Risky Intention
by triplehhholic
Summary: It started off as a meaningless bet between friends but Paul's pursuit of an unsuspecting Stephanie could give him more than he bargained for. AU HHH/Stephanie McMahon fic.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Paul stuffed his hands deep in his leather coat pockets as he walked along the brightly lit bridge. He could hear the river rushing in torrents below him and he tilted his head down protecting his face from the bitter wind. The temperature had dropped considerably since this morning and the icy road glistened in the moonlight. As a bus pulled to a stop just in front of him, Paul questioned his sanity for even being out here. Not only was he freezing his ass off, he had a ton of paperwork to get through. The ever ominous deadline was looming over his head. But Jamie had called him and he couldn't refuse a friend. And besides, he hadn't seen the guy in over six months.

As Paul sidestepped a pedestrian, he thought about the last time he had actually seen Jamie. It had been just before the summer, before he'd been contracted abroad. Jamie worked in the oil industry and had just returned from the Indian Ocean. He'd taken various different contracts since graduating six years ago. In fact that was where they had met, the North Eastern University. Both of them had studied the same course in civil engineering. They'd become roommates in their second year and had remained close friends ever since.

Paul continued on his journey lifting his head as he crossed the busy street. A steady stream of traffic rumbled past him as he carried on walking, weaving in and out among the pedestrians. It was a Friday night and the waterfront was busy as usual. The bars and restaurants lit up either side of the tree-lined street. He had arranged to Jamie at their usual place, a bar called The Globe. He could see the blue neon sign against the black night sky. As he walked towards the building, he passed a group of teenagers on the street. An amused smile crossed his face as he spotted the disguised liquor bottles in their hands.

"Excuse me."

Paul's head turned at the sound of her soft voice. Pushing back his hair with his hand, his brown eyes fell on the brunette standing with her back to the red brick wall.

"You couldn't tell me the time, could you?"

"Sure." smiled Paul lifting his wrist to check his gold watch.

As he glanced down at the white glass face, he couldn't help but think how crazy she was for standing there. The lady wasn't exactly dressed to brave the elements. Her short black dress barely skimmed the tops of her slender thighs. Her knee length boots were her only protection against the cold. She wasn't even wearing a coat for Christ sakes. The woman clearly had a death wish or was just plain nuts. Probably a mixture of both. He was surprised she hadn't already turned blue from exposure.

"It's almost nine thirty."

"Oh." she said simply. A soft sigh escaped from her lips. "We were supposed to meet here at nine."

Paul smiled at her sympathetically. His blonde hair blew behind him in the wind. He had to wonder at the moron who had left this girl waiting. This chick was definitely hot and if she was his date, he'd be making sure he was on time. Despite other faults, he had never been a guy who left his ladies hanging.

"I'm sure he'll be along soon." he said feeling awkward but trying to sound encouraging at the same time.

"It's a she actually." The young girl rubbed her bare arm and smiled at him. He noticed her bottom lip was lightly trembling. "I'm waiting on my best friend."

Paul smiled as he stepped aside to let a couple holding hands pass him on the sidewalk. His feet shuffled on the frosted concrete as he tucked his windswept strands behind his ear. "Well maybe you should wait inside. You're freezing cold out here. You're going to catch your death."

"You're sweet but I'm fine." Her lips upturned into a smile. Her eyes suddenly went wide as she looked past his shoulder. "Oh there she is now." she stated, relieved.

Paul turned his head. A blonde haired girl was running along the lit up street. The sound of her heels was drowned out by the sound of a cab as it rumbled by.

"In that case, I'll leave you to it. Goodnight." he said smiling at the brunette and his big hand pushed open the heavy wooden door.

"Thank you." she called out behind him.

He gave her a small wave before disappearing into the building. His face began to tingle in the warm, smoky air. The place was buzzing with conversation and some rock tune played in the background. Paul peered round the softly lit room looking for his friend. He recognised a few faces here and there and smiled in acknowledgment as he passed them. He apologised as he bumped into somebody's shoulder as he wandered towards the bar. Seconds later he felt the thump on his back just as he'd pushed his way to the polished cherry wood counter. A grin crossed his face as the voice boomed out behind him.

"Well would you look at who just dragged their ass in the door!"

Chuckling, Paul felt an arm wrap around his shoulder. A big hand squeezed him through the leather material of his coat. Jamie was an affectionate bastard sober or drunk. He was also extremely loud and tonight was no exception. Paul could see the heads that had turned to look his way.

"You're fucking late Levesque. I said nine o'clock."

Paul summoned the bar tender and turned to his friend. A grin was stretched wide across his deeply tanned face. "Quit your bitching. I got here as quick as I could."

"Is Nicole giving you a hard time again?"

Paul's smile faltered slightly as he turned to the bar tender and ordered two bottles of Miller. He felt Jamie's eyes watching him as he removed his wallet from his pocket. "Nic and I split up."

"Man, I'm sorry." Jamie's hand squeezed his shoulder. Paul paid for the drinks and forced a smile as he handed over the beer. "When did this happen?"

Paul shrugged his shoulders as he took a mouthful of the cold liquid. "A couple of months back." His brown eyes focused on his beer. His thick fingers picked at the wet, peeling label. "She was pissed off with the amount of hours I had been putting in at work."

In fact, pissed off was an understatement as Paul found out the night he came home to find her clothes and belongings gone. It appeared Nicole had enjoyed the money and the nice house but eating dinner alone for the fifth night that week had been the final straw. Of course, he couldn't blame her. He knew he had been neglecting her but being the project engineer on a new construction programme meant he had responsibilities. Responsibilities that for him, were far more important than his girlfriend of three years. Of course that right there should have told him something. Unfortunately their relationship had appeared to have run its course. At least Nicole had the courage to acknowledge it.

"You always were a workaholic." said Jamie.

Paul smiled and drunk his beer.

"I just thought Nicole might be the one to change that."

"What are you? My fucking mother?" said Paul as he shook his head in Jamie's direction.

"I take it Mama Levesque been giving you a hard time?" asked Jamie, chuckling. He took a mouthful of beer wiping his chin as the liquid spilled over his bottom lip. "You know she just wants her little boy to hurry up and settle down." he teased ruffling his friend's long blonde hair.

"Fuck off Riggs." Paul scowled as he batted away his big hand. The sound of Jamie's laughter boomed across the busy bar. Paul couldn't help but smile as he brushed his fingers through his messy strands. He was annoying as fuck but you could never stay mad at him for long.

"So I guess this means you're back on the market."

Paul snorted in disgust at that suggestion. "Forget it. I'm through with relationships."

He placed his empty beer bottle on the counter. He summoned the bar tender for another. He was definitely in the mood for getting drunk tonight. He couldn't remember the last time he had cut loose and just enjoyed himself. Probably way before Nicole had sunk her claws into him. That fucking woman had his balls so tight he was lucky they hadn't dropped off through lack of circulation.

"So, you're giving up on women huh?"

Paul smirked as he turned to Jamie. "I said I was done with relationships. That doesn't mean my dick has fallen off."

Jamie snorted with laughter. He spluttered as beer trickled down his nostril.

"You know you're fucking disgusting." said Paul as his nose scrunched in disapproval.

Jamie wiped at his face. His shoulders still shook with his laughter. "Yeah, well you sound like a fucking whore. You do know we're not in college any more Toto. Decent women our age won't just give it up and sleep with a guy."

"Who says?" Paul smiled cockily. "I'm telling you man. I could have my pick of any woman in this room." He thanked the bar tender as he took the beers. He handed one to Jamie who nodded his thanks and grinned.

"You know, I forgot what an arrogant prick you were."

Paul laughed as he took a mouthful of his beer. His brown eyes surveyed the crowded room. He noticed a middle aged couple sitting in silence at a table. Paul chuckled and looked away. If that was the joy of a committed relationship, you could keep it.

"You were quite the player at college." said Jamie. "Remember that first wager we made?"

Paul swallowed his beer and laughed. "You bet me fifty bucks that I couldn't get Melissa Parker to agree to a date. You lost my friend."

"I still don't believe it. She had a fucking girlfriend. She wasn't meant to swing that way!"

"What can I say? When you got it, you got it." snickered Paul as he saw a blonde standing by the jukebox. Her curvy body was squeezed into the tiniest dress imaginable. He was surprised she could breathe wearing that thing. One wrong move and her head would be in grave danger of popping right off.

"Think you still have it?"

Paul turned his head towards Jamie. His brown eyes narrowed curiously in his direction. "Is that a challenge, my friend?"

Jamie wore an arrogant smirk on his face as he poked him in the chest with the neck of his beer bottle. "Why of course. It would be the same terms and conditions as usual. I pick the lady. You have to obtain intimate knowledge of her."

"How long have I got?"

"One month."

"A month?" snorted Paul in disbelief. "You may as well give me your money man because it is as good as mine."

"I wouldn't be so sure not with the lady I have in mind."

"Which one is it?" Paul asked as his eyes scoured the busy bar.

"Check out the table on the right, the one beside the fruit machine."

Paul shifted his body and looked in that direction. A small smirk traced his lips as he saw the two women sitting there. It was the crazy lady that had asked him the time outside and her friend who looked like she had finally caught her breath.

"You see the brunette?"

Paul nodded his head.

"One hundred bucks says you crash and burn with that one."

"One hundred?" asked Paul, his tongue thoughtfully licking his lips. His arm rested against the bar as his brown eyes focused on her.

"I know her man. You've got no chance in hell. They called her the Ice Queen in school and it was for a damn good reason. She never put out. Fuck, I bet she still doesn't. She's an attorney now. She eats guys like us for breakfast."

Paul smiled. There was no doubt she definitely sounded like a challenge. But he liked that. In fact, the challenge actually made things much more exciting. God knows he could use a little fun in his life. As she crossed a leg over her knee exposing her long, toned thigh, Paul smirked and turned to his friend. "Make it five hundred and you've got yourself a bet."

"Five hundred bucks?" snorted Jamie, his green eyes wide as he stared at his friend.

He chuckled and shook his head, his large hand running through his short dark strands. "What can I say? It's your funeral man." He took Paul's outstretched hand and vigorously shook it up and down. "It's going to kill you to give me your money, Paulie boy."

"Fuck off. It's as good as mine."

"I don't think so, man. You've met your match with that one."

As Paul looked over in the brunette's direction, he smirked and wondered if that would be true. Not that it mattered. He would do whatever it took to win her over. He had never been in the habit of losing a bet and he sure as hell wasn't about to start now.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Paul threw his heavy coat on the passenger seat of his black Explorer. The frost had thawed but snow was forecast and he was out on site this morning. He had a meeting scheduled with the gas company about the new underground pipes. Jumping in the vehicle, he switched on the engine. He groaned as the fuel light lit up the black and chrome dash. He was running late as it was but there was no way he would make it there. The site was five miles from here which meant he'd need to detour by the gas station.

Reversing out of his driveway, Paul drove down the tree-lined street. He pulled down the visor as the low January sun reflected off the windscreen. He felt surprisingly alert this morning despite his lack of sleep. He'd crawled into bed just six hours ago. Jamie had persuaded him to hit a club. It was the same club they were going to tomorrow night. It was his sister, Natasha's birthday party. He had wanted to go and check it out beforehand and Paul had been dragged along in the process.

Just then he pulled up at the traffic lights. He reached across and switched on the radio. His fingers drummed against the steering wheel as they tapped in time to the music. The hot brunette would be there at the party. She was a friend of Natasha. It was how Jamie had known her at the bar that night. The lights turned green and Paul pulled away. He indicated to turn into the gas station on his right. He parked at the pumps behind the silver car and switched off the engine. As he got out, the wind hit his face. Feeling his cheeks instantly numb, Paul inserted his credit card and began to refuel his car. He smiled as his finger loosened the collar of his white dress shirt. Tomorrow night was the perfect opportunity to introduce himself to his bet. He hadn't had time before now despite Jamie constantly reminding him the clock was ticking. Almost five days had passed since they'd shaken on their wager. Work had been chaotic and he just hadn't had the time.

Replacing the cap on the tank, Paul placed his card in his black suit jacket pocket. He jumped in the car and cursed as he looked at the clock above his mirror. He was supposed to be on site five minutes ago. With any luck, he'd make it in ten. Starting up the engine, he watched impatiently as the woman who obviously owned the car in front of him stood there in a daze. Sighing heavily, he shook his head in frustration. What the fuck was she doing? Getting impatient, he honked his horn. He could see her shaking her head at him. She still stood there and made no move to get into her car. Cutting off his engine, he jumped out. Her hand reached into her bag as he closed over his door.

"Hey lady, any chance you could actually move that car?"

"Any chance you could give me a damn minute?!" she called out as she threw her bag on to the trunk. She began to rummage through it. Her back was turned to him.

"Lost your keys?" he asked.

"Don't be stupid. I had them in my hand a minute ago." she snorted indignantly. He could see her head drop even lower as she peered inside her large black leather bag. God knows what she even had in there. Anything except her car keys by the looks of things. He'd never understand women and their need to carry every worldly possession in their damn purse. It completely baffled him.

"Are you sure?" he asked trying to be helpful.

After all this only needed a bit of logic. If she could remember the last time she had them, there was every chance she would actually find the damn things and he could get the hell out of here. He was running later and later and this hold up sure wasn't helping matters.

"Of course I'm fucking sure. I drove here didn't I?" she snapped. She still didn't look up. Her head was still bowed and her back slightly turned. Paul shook his head angrily.

"Yeah, on your fucking broomstick." he muttered under his breath.

He then turned to walk away. The woman was a total bitch. He was only trying to help her out. She could fuck off for all he cared.

"Excuse me?" she called out after him hearing his retort.

Paul scowled and shook his head as he opened his car door. "Forget it." he said. "You obviously don't appreciate my help." He lifted his wrist and checked his watch.

"I don't appreciate your fucking rudeness either." she retorted.

"Oh I'm not the one who is rude, lady." said Paul as he dropped his hand to his side.

He looked over in her direction. He frowned as he saw her standing there. The bitch wore a prominent scowl on her face yet he could still tell she was a beauty. Her brown hair was pinned up and she wore a pair of black rimmed glasses. Her blue eyes glared at him from behind them. There was something familiar about her. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Wait a second. I know you." she said suddenly.

She bit down on her lip thoughtfully. She placed her hand on the waist of her long black wool jacket. A horn blasted behind them. Paul turned his head sideways and held his hand up mouthing to give them a minute. His big hand pushed back his blonde hair as he looked back in the woman's direction.

"You do? Well as nice as that is, we really don't have time to get acquainted here. Think you can find those keys so we can get the hell out of here?" he asked.

"And to think I thought you were sweet that night. How wrong could I have been?" she said before turning back to her bag.

Paul could hear her curse as she continued to rummage. His brow was furrowed in confusion. She thought he was sweet? When? And how the fuck did he know her anyway? He knew that he did. He just didn't remember how he did. His curiosity got the better of him as he wandered back towards her. The wind blew his hair in his face and he absently tucked the strands behind his ears. The horn honked loudly again behind him. He ignored it and stood behind her. He could smell her perfume. It was something floral and expensive.

"Excuse me?" he said.

"Well what do you know? It actually has manners." she muttered as she continued to rake in her bag.

Paul shook his head. This bitch really was a ticket. "Remind me how I had the displeasure of meeting you and I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

She stopped her rummaging to look up and glare at him. Her blue eyes narrowed in his direction. "Outside The Globe. Friday night. Ring a bell in that thick skull of yours?"

Paul's mouth parted in surprise as she began raking through her bag again. Fuck. Of course! It was her. This lady was the bet. Grimacing at his stupidity, Paul silently cursed himself. The way things were going right now, he'd be lucky to get knowledge of her name never mind her bed. Not that he was sure he wanted to. This woman had really tried his patience. She was snippy and rude. In fact, she was a total fucking bitch. No wonder she was called the Ice Queen. The name was definitely apt. But damn, she was hot. This broad would be one hell of a conquest, there was no doubt about it. Plus there was no way he was losing this bet. It wasn't just about the money after all. His pride was also on the line here. He just had to try and salvage this situation before she chewed off his balls entirely.

"I take it you don't remember me?"

"Oh I do." he replied. He smirked at her. "You're the crazy lady who was freezing her ass off. At least you've got the sense to actually wear a coat today."

"You know you're just oozing with charm." she said.

She continued to rummage. Paul shook his head. This was one stubborn chick. The keys clearly weren't in the damn bag. He wished she would just come out and admit it.

"You know I really don't think they're in there."

She looked up and glared at him. "No shit." she snapped abruptly.

Her shoulders rose and fell as she sighed heavily. As she pressed her lips together, he could see the panic appear on her pretty face.

"Where the hell are they?" she muttered to herself.

The horn of the driver behind them honked loudly again. Paul glared over in his direction. "Will you just give us a minute here, pal?"

He shook his head disapprovingly. "Jesus fucking Christ!" he scowled as he looked back at the brunette. Her lips were parted in surprise. They shone with her red lip gloss.

"You've changed your tune." she snorted. "A minute ago you were the one honking your damn horn at me."

"Well now I want to help you so sue me for giving a crap."

As the brunette scowled at him, Paul realised he wasn't doing himself any favours. He was supposed to be winning her over not giving her yet another reason to loathe him. But damn it, this was hard. She was so bloody infuriating.

"Did you check in your coat pockets?" he asked trying to hurry her along. A camper van pulled in at the gas pump across from them.

"I would have remembered if I had put them in there." she said almost condescendingly.

"Check them again."

"And I should do what you say why?" she challenged. Her blue eyes narrowed at him once more. The horn honked again behind them. Paul felt himself getting extremely irritated with the whole situation.

"Look would you just check them before I have to go over there and ram his fucking horn down his throat?" he replied through clenched teeth.

"So you're violent as well as rude?" she smirked.

Her hands reached into her coat pockets a second later. Paul's mouth opened to respond when he saw her face fall. He smiled at her knowingly. It looked like the Ice Queen had finally found her keys. Halle-fucking-lujah! Maybe now he could get to that meeting. Only after he'd gloated a little bit of course.

"Find anything?" Paul smirked widely. The brunette threw him a look. He knew she wanted to kill him. It was written all over her pretty little face.

"You can try not to be so smug." she scowled.

"I can't help it where you're concerned, toots."

She glowered at him. "Toots?"

Paul shrugged and grinned. "If you don't like it, you could always tell me your real name."

"And why would I want to do that?" she replied.

"Call it me getting to know you better."

"Maybe I don't want you to know me at all."

Paul shook his head and smiled. "Now you're just kidding yourself."

"And you're just full of yourself." she quipped.

But despite her stern expression, her blue eyes actually smiled at him. The driver behind them honked his horn repeatedly. She grabbed her bag from the trunk and opened the door to the silver Ford Mustang. "I'd better go." she said as she climbed into the car. The door slammed shut behind her.

"It's about time lady!" the guy from behind shouted.

The engine roared and Paul began to walk in the direction of his car.

"Hey! Goldilocks?"

He smiled as her voice called out behind him. He turned on his heel to face her. The guy cursed loudly from behind as her head poked out of her window. The strands of hair across her forehead blew in the wind.

"I guess I should say thanks. You know for your help with the keys."

"Anytime, Stephanie."

Paul winked and spun quickly on his heel. His grin was wide as he walked back to his car. He could hear her engine idling. He wished he could see the expression on her face. She wouldn't have a clue how he knew her name. Little did she know that wasn't all he knew thanks to his de-briefing from Jamie the other night!

"Would you get a move on?"

Paul scowled at the impatient driver. "Keep your fucking hair on, will you?"

The driver quickly stuck his head back in the car. Paul chuckled to himself. He looked at least half his size. He had obviously intimidated the poor guy. He jumped into his car and started up the engine. As he released the brake his eyes connected with the blue ones staring back at him through her rear view mirror. They lingered for a second before she pulled away down the street. Paul turned on the radio and began to sing along as he turned his car in the opposite direction. As the drizzle began to fall, he wondered what her reaction would be when he turned up at the club tomorrow night. One thing was certain. He was looking forward to finding out. More so now he knew the challenge he would be actually facing.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Paul leant against the bar as he took a mouthful of his beer, his eyes falling on the crowded dance floor. The coloured lights flashed in time to the beat of the music. The small club was packed with people celebrating Natasha's birthday and he could see Jamie dancing with his younger sister. Paul shook his head and smiled. He was throwing his hands around in the air while he did some strange movement thing with his hips. There was a huge grin on his deeply tanned face too. Jamie always was a crazy bastard. He just hoped he kept his clothes on tonight. Unfortunately his friend had a nasty habit of stripping off when he got drunk. It had landed him in plenty of trouble over the years usually with his best friend having to be the one to bail him out. There was even one time he had found Jamie skinny dipping in the pool at the University. Thankfully though, he remained fully clothed tonight. Well, at least so far anyway.

"Excuse me."

Paul's brow raised in surprise as he felt the tap on his shoulder. He turned round to see Stephanie standing there in front of him. He hadn't seen her all night despite the few casual glances he had cast around the busy room wondering of her whereabouts. Well he didn't have to wonder any more. Her smoky blue eyes were observing him suspiciously. Paul beamed back at her widely. She was looking extremely hot tonight in a little red basque top. Her hair fell in waves across her bare shoulders and a long pendant hung around her neck. The red jewel nestled in between the tops of her breasts which poked out of her top temptingly. And then there were those legs. Sweet Jesus! They looked endless in her short black skirt and heels and he couldn't deny the temperature had risen a few degrees. The bet was becoming more appealing with every passing second.

"So we meet again." he grinned.

"Yeah. Lucky me!" replied Stephanie sarcastically rolling her eyes before her body jerked forward as someone pushed past her from behind. Her chest bumped into Paul's arm. She pressed her red glossed lips together and gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

"No worries." Paul sniffed absently inhaling the soft scent of her perfume. It reminded him of vanilla. "Can I buy you a drink?"

Stephanie shifted her feet, resting her hip against the bar. The guy was smiling at her as his big hand lifted and brushed a lock of hair from his eye. She had to admit he was gorgeous. His black shirt hugged his muscular body perfectly. The top buttons were undone and hung over his dark denim jeans. His cuffs were loose around his thick wrists. She'd never met a guy so big in her life before. He had to definitely work out.

As his brown eyes twinkled back at her, Stephanie had to admit she was intrigued by him. In fact, she hadn't been able to stop thinking about him since their run in yesterday. And not because the guy had eyes that just wanted to suck her right in. No. He had definitely ruffled her feathers and not in a good way either. She had found him extremely irritating not to mention very rude. His smugness when she had discovered her keys in her pocket made her want to smack him. And then after all that, he had the audacity to walk away after he had taken great pleasure in winding her up. The bastard had obviously enjoyed playing his little game.

Stephanie's mouth curled into a scowl as she felt her earlier annoyance come bubbling to the surface. She hadn't been able to believe it when she had spotted him from across the room. He was popping up everywhere and despite her not having a clue who he was, he seemed to know her and how he knew her was really bugging her.

"How the hell do you know my name?" she asked, her manicured finger prodding him in his chest. She tried not to notice how firm it felt or how incredible his cologne smelled.

Paul smirked at her widely as he summoned the skinny bar tender. "You tell me if you want a drink first and then I'll answer your question."

"I'm glad you find this whole thing so amusing."

"It's almost as funny as you losing your keys." he chuckled as he took a drink from his bottle of beer.

"Yeah? Well you know what would be really funny?" retorted Stephanie. "What would be really funny is pouring that drink over your head instead of down your throat."

"And I honestly believe you would do it too." Paul swallowed his beer and grinned. "You're a feisty one. I like that."

She scowled and shook her head. "My name, moron. How do you know it?"

Just then the bar tender appeared interrupting them. Paul smiled at him as he placed his bottle back on the cheery wood bar.

"Just a second, my friend. The lady hasn't quite made up her mind yet." He glanced over at Stephanie and winked. "Whatcha having toots?"

His shoulders shook with his low chuckle as her stormy blue eyes glared back at him. He swore if looks could kill, he'd be dead right now. Stephanie was practically snarling at him. She was a definitely wild one alright. Hopefully she was wild in the sack too. God knows he'd need some incentive to go ahead with this damn bet when he was in danger of having his balls ripped off every five seconds.

"Come on. The nice man is waiting." he said as he leant his arm on the bar.

Stephanie sniffed and casually shrugged her shoulders. "Well if you're willing to part with your money, who am I to refuse?" She turned to the bar tender and smiled sweetly. "I'll have a Cosmopolitan please."

Paul raised his eyebrows fractionally at her choice as he lifted his empty Miller bottle. "I'll have another of those."

"Make that two my man!"

Paul felt the slap on his back and turned round grinning at Jamie. "You never miss a trick do you?"

"I can smell beer a hundred miles away especially when it's free." his friend boomed above the beat of the music. His hand raked through his short dark strands as he rested his arm on Paul's shoulder. He turned his attention to the woman staring at him curiously. "Stephanie, it's good to see you." he said.

It took a second for her to place the man smiling at her before Stephanie's blue eyes widened finally recognising the tanned face.

"Jamie?!" she asked surprised and he nodded his confirmation. Natasha's brother had certainly changed since the last time she had seen him. His long straggly locks were gone and his thin, pimpled face was now filled out and tanned.

"The one and only." Jamie jerked his head in Paul's direction. "I see you've met my best buddy, Paul."

Stephanie's mouth slowly lifted, a knowing smile crossing her face as it all finally fell into place. That was how he knew her. And now that she thought about it, she maybe remembered seeing them together at the bar last Friday night. She hadn't known who Jamie was but he had obviously recognised her and had told his friend her name. The smug bastard!

"I've had the displeasure, yes." she eventually replied as she threw Paul a look. His deep laughter rang out across the bar. She shook her head as her nose crinkled with her disapproval. "Although he never did have the courtesy to properly introduce himself to me, you know."

Jamie opened his mouth dramatically and smacked his friend upside the head. Paul rubbed his hair and scowled at him. "What the fuck was that for?"

"You'll have to excuse my friend. He has no fucking manners." Jamie turned to Paul who was tucking a lock of hair behind his ear. "Introduce yourself to the lady or do I have to do it for you."

Paul rolled his eyes and shook his head in reply. He offered his hand out to Stephanie who if he wasn't mistaken actually looked amused by the whole thing. It appeared the ice queen had a sense of humour after all. "Paul Levesque. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Stephanie hesitated for a brief second before she took his outstretched hand. His grip was firm and assured. His skin felt warm and surprisingly soft. "Stephanie McMahon." she said as he pumped her arm up and down. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"I'm afraid I can't confirm or deny such allegations." Paul smirked as he let go of her hand. The bar tender arrived with their drinks. Jamie grabbed his from the tray.

"Pay the man, Levesque."

"Yeah well it wouldn't be you, you cheap bastard." scoffed Paul as he took his wallet from his back pocket and removed his money. He watched Stephanie pick up her drink and smile her thanks. She took a sip from the martini glass and let her eyes wander across to the dance floor. She saw Natasha bouncing around to the pop tune and laughing.

"My sister is a nut."

Stephanie smiled at Jamie.

"Insanity must run in the family then." said Paul before taking a mouthful of beer.

Jamie hugged his stomach and pretended to laugh. "The guy thinks he's a comedian."

Stephanie smiled and flicked a lock of her hair over her shoulder. "Your friend seems to think he's a lot of things."

Jamie chuckled knowingly and looked at Paul. "I see you've made a good impression on the lady."

"What can I say?" he said grinning widely. "Women find me irresistible."

Stephanie snorted as she placed her drink on the bar. "You're certainly full of yourself."

"I'm full of a lot of things, baby." he winked. "You're more than welcome to find out for yourself."

She grimaced with her displeasure as she turned her attention to Jamie. "Your friend is an arrogant prick."

"You can say my name you know. It's only manners now I've properly introduced myself to you."

"You know you're infuriating."

"I'd like to think it's one of my better traits."

"If that's the case I'd hate to see a bad one then."

"On that note, I think I'll leave the pair of you to it. I have a date with the dance floor." chuckled Jamie who slapped Paul across the back. "Play nice, Lev." he warned him before his loud laughter disappeared into the crowd.

Paul shook his head and smiled as Stephanie took another sip of her drink. She definitely had a sharp tongue on her and the strange thing was he found himself liking it. She was certainly different to any other woman he had met before and was going to be worth every penny of that five hundred bucks Jamie was going to shell out. Seeing her look towards the dance floor, Paul cleared his throat and smiled. "Would you like to dance?"

Stephanie glowered at him. "With you? No thank you."

"Charming." he chuckled. Paul stepped forward as someone nudged him from behind. Stephanie awkwardly took a step back. "I would have thought I deserved at least one dance for saving you at the gas station yesterday."

"You saved me?"

Paul nodded. "Let's face it toots. If I hadn't come along, you could still be standing there now."

"I hardly think so." she scoffed. "And please stop calling me that by the way."

"Why?"

"I don't like it that's why."

"Don't tell me. It offends you." chuckled Paul as he sipped his beer. She looked the kind of woman who would be into all that liberated crap.

"Actually no. I just don't feel comfortable with it, that's all." said Stephanie as she tugged on the bottom hem of her top. "Plus I don't even know you."

"Well I could soon remedy that."

She licked her lips and twirled the stem of her glass between her manicured fingers. "How?"

Paul shrugged his shoulders as he shifted his feet on the faded patterned carpet. The music changed in the background. A quick cheer came from the dance floor. "I could take you for a drink sometime."

Stephanie's blue eyes stared at him incredulously. Seriously, was this guy for real? "Are you asking me on a date?"

"Well, you do date men don't you?"

"Men, yes. You no."

Paul couldn't help but laugh at her quick comeback. Stephanie was a trip that was for sure. She gave a new meaning to the word bitch but damn it, the more she put him down, the more determined he was to conquer her in every sense of the word. There was no way he was backing down now. Not even if he wanted to. "You know you wound me, Stephanie."

"Poor Paul." she smirked. "Don't tell me I hurt your feelings?"

"I'm a sensitive guy."

"I find that extremely hard to believe."

"I can prove it to you if you let me take you on that date." he said, his thick fingers peeling the label from his cold bottle of Miller. His brown eyes never left her beautiful face. Her blue ones stared back at him and despite the scowl she wore, he could see there was a hint of genuine warmth in them.

"You're persistent, I'll give you that."

Paul bent over towards her ear. He inhaled her heavenly perfume as he placed his hand on her shoulder. He could feel her quick breathing and her soft hair smelled clean and fresh. "I make it a habit of always getting what I want." he informed her huskily.

Stephanie swallowed thickly, her composure shaken as he stepped back from her. His hushed words still rang in her ears. They had given her goose bumps and butterflies were dancing in her chest. Fuck. She couldn't allow herself to feel the butterflies. God knows they would only spell trouble for her. They had done in the past. But Christ, Paul smelled incredible and he was extremely gorgeous to boot. Still that didn't matter. It couldn't, not when the guy was way too dangerous. There was no way she could let him in, not even an inch. She just couldn't risk it, not if she wanted her sanity to remain intact.

Letting out a slow, calming breath, Stephanie looked up at him and eventually finding her voice, she shook her head. "Not this time I'm afraid. I'm just not interested."

Paul smiled at her unperturbed. "Now you're just kidding yourself. It's only a matter of time, you know."

"A matter of time before what?" she asked, screwing her nose up at him.

"Well, before you say yes of course."

He grinned and Stephanie could only smile and shake her head. He really was a cocky bastard although she had to admit that she found it just a little bit endearing. Shame it wasn't endearing enough to make her change her mind. "You're delusional, Paul. It's just not going to happen."

"You don't know what you're missing."

"I think I'll manage to survive."

Paul licked his lips as he shook his head. "I don't know. I'm a lot of fun, you know." He watched Stephanie take a mouthful of her red drink and he smirked to himself. "I'm also incredible in bed by the way."

Stephanie coughed and spluttered and quickly placed her glass down on the bar. Paul laughed loudly as her hand wiped a dribble of drink from her chin. She stared at him incredulously, in total disbelief. But despite her shock, she had to bite down on her lip to stop the hint of a smile that threatened to cross her face. "Oh my God! You are such an egotistical jerk."

Paul raked his fingers through his hair lifting his shoulder in a casual shrug. "I think you're just trying to find excuses not to like me."

"Not really. All you have to do is open your mouth and I remember all the reasons why I can't stand you."

"Really?"

"Yeah really."

"I think you're lying." Paul moved a little closer towards her smiling smugly. "In fact I know you're lying because when I whispered in your ear earlier, you definitely liked it."

Stephanie swallowed thickly as the heat rushed to her cheeks. Her fingers reached for her pendant and she absently fiddled with the chain suddenly feeling terribly self-conscious. "You need help, Paul. You really do."

Her hand dropped from the necklace and she bit down on the corner of her lip. "Anyway, I'd better get back to my friends. Thanks for the drink."

"Any time." smiled Paul. "And my offer still stands you know."

"Thanks but no thanks."

Stephanie smiled at him softly and after a second's hesitation, she started to walk back to her table. Paul took a mouthful of his drink watching her, his brown eyes never leaving her as they admired her shapely form. The music changed again in the background and the lights seemed to flash a little brighter. He chuckled to himself amused by their little encounter. Stephanie sure wasn't making this easy for him but he wasn't giving up on pursuing her. This was so much more than money now. His pride was on the line. He wasn't used to being turned down. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he had crashed and burned like that. The sick thing was it made him want her even more. His mother had told him once you always want what you can't have. But he would have Stephanie. He would just have to find a way to wear her down because losing this bet was not an option for him.

Pushing himself from the bar, Paul was about to leave when Stephanie suddenly turned back around. Their eyes connected for a second before she quickly looked away once more. He smiled to himself knowingly. It looked like he had certainly piqued the Ice Queen's interest after all. Maybe the challenge wouldn't be as tough as he actually thought. Maybe he was actually in with a shot at winning the bet.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Stephanie sighed softly and lifted her eyes from the huge flat screen monitor. She removed her black rimmed glasses and laid them down in front of her. Her large mahogany desk was littered with green cardboard files and sheets of scattered paper. It looked totally disorganised but she knew exactly where everything was. Two empty Diet Coke tins and a sandwich wrapper were nestled in between. She had quickly gulped down lunch while she prepared for a custody battle for a six year old girl. She was due in court first thing tomorrow morning but already she could see the case being deferred. The social worker's report still had to be submitted and as usual they were running late. In fact she had no chance in hell of getting it today despite her latest desperate plea to the guy handling the case, Brian Wilkins. He was being a stubborn bastard as per usual. Things were either on his time or no time at all.

Rubbing at her forehead wearily, Stephanie glanced over at the large window in her more than generous office. The Boston skyline shone magnificently through the glass. The low afternoon sun hid behind the rooftops of the high rise buildings covering them in a pink and orange glow. The coloured sky was beginning to darken outside and it cast the room in faint shadows. It looked so breathtakingly pretty out there and she loved watching the sunset. The way it lit up the entire city made it seem enchanting and romantic, not that she would know anything about romance of course. Especially not nowadays.

Pushing back her chair, Stephanie got to her feet feeling the sudden urge for a cappuccino. She was tired and in need of a major caffeine boost. Maybe she would even have a muffin too. She had a feeling she would be here for a few hours longer. It would be ages before she actually got the chance to grab any dinner.

Her bare soles sunk into the soft plush carpet before they searched around for her chunky heeled red shoes. Her toes sought them out underneath her desk. She always kicked them off when she was working alone in the office. It was habit she had gotten into over the years and it was surprising how much it relaxed her. Stephanie's fingers gripped the wooden edge to balance her as she slid her feet into the soft leather. She grabbed her matching Gucci handbag sitting by the leg of her desk. It was her one real extravagance in life. Well that and she loved shoes. Her entire closet was filled with boxes of all kind of footwear and she had the bags to go with them of course. Everyone knew they were the essential accessories of any outfit. Besides a girl had to try and look her best at all times.

Sliding the strap of her bag over her shoulder, Stephanie made her way into the busy main office. She smiled at Eve, her secretary who was taking a phone call. She mouthed to her she would be back in five. Eve grinned and nodded her head. Stephanie acknowledged a few of her colleagues as she made her way to the elevators. They all had cell phones stuck to their ears as they paced around the floor of the office. It seemed everyone loved to talk around here. No doubt they would be overcharging their poor clients for the phone call. It was definitely a cut throat business practicing law but she wouldn't have it any other way. In fact she thrived on the ruthless environment. It definitely felt empowering to her. God knows she had to be tough as nails to get any sort of recognition for her work. She was at a serious disadvantage being only one of two women who worked at the most successful law firm in the city. It seemed you had to have a dick to get anywhere or be anyone around here.

Her hand smacked against the button summoning the elevator. The square plastic lit up a bright luminous green. Stephanie waited patiently and glanced towards the reception tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. That was when she saw him sitting with his back partially turned to her.

Stunned by his presence, Stephanie stood staring at him in disbelief. It was that guy Paul. She knew straight away it was him. There was no mistaking the long blonde strands or the massive shoulders they rested upon. The question was what the hell was he doing here and dressed in a dark navy suit nonetheless. She'd never seen him in this office before. Maybe he was one of their brand new clients. Or just maybe he had come to see her.

Stephanie mentally gave herself a shake. Now she was being absolutely ridiculous. Why on earth would he do that? They didn't even really know one another and besides, she'd rejected his lame advances at the party Friday night. He knew she wasn't into him although she still couldn't forget the butterflies she had felt when he had whispered huskily into her ear that night. No one had affected her that way in a long time but then again she had been drinking. She wasn't exactly of sound mind at the time. He was nothing but an arrogant prick anyway. He probably acted like he was God's gift to anything with breasts. It was a pity though. Paul was a really handsome guy and sexy as hell to boot. Even she could admit that despite her loathing for him and unfortunately it seemed to be a prerequisite for men these days. If he looked gorgeous, you knew he would be a total bastard. She had learned that from her own personal, painful experience.

The elevator door pinged open. Stephanie was about to leave but hesitated. For some reason, she just had to know why he was here. Licking her lips, she crossed the short space to the seated area. The elderly woman sitting next to him got up and left. Stephanie noticed her heading towards the bathrooms as she stood in front of Paul. He was still absorbed in some article he was reading. Or maybe he was just admiring the pictures of the motoring magazine in his hand. Men and their damn cars!

She immediately felt her demeanour shift as she watched him. She didn't know why but her defences were up. She had felt that way around him the couple of times she had met him. Paul had the knack of getting under her skin somehow. He knew it though and seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. Stephanie deliberately cleared her throat to grab his attention. It worked as Paul glanced up from his magazine. A slow smile crept across his face. His brown eyes were surprised and curious.

"You know this is like some fucked up version of Groundhog Day. Every day I wake up to find you popping up somewhere else in my life." she stated.

"Stephanie McMahon. We meet yet again." Paul paused for a second before grinning at her widely. "And can I say you're looking beautiful today."

He winked as he let his brown eyes run over her dark grey wool business suit. Stephanie wore a white shirt underneath with the buttons loose to her cleavage. A string of red beads hung around her neck. She looked every bit the professional but yet she was still amazingly hot. Her hair was straight and fell softly over her shoulders. Her make up was light and subtle.

"Don't even think about it." she warned.

"What?" Paul laughed. "I can't even pay you a compliment?"

Stephanie scowled. "No. Not when you use it as an opportunity to try and check me out." She adjusted the leather strap of her handbag as she shifted her feet on the carpet and flicked her hair over her shoulder.

"You know you're pretty full of yourself." smirked Paul as he rested back in the black cushioned chair. He tossed his magazine to the side and crossed his arms over his chest as he chomped on a piece of gum. It made him appear more smug than usual if that was even possible. But yet there was something incredibly sexy about it too. Stephanie quickly pushed aside that thought. She obviously needed serious help for even thinking that way.

"Look, are you stalking me or something?" she blurted out to him.

Paul snorted in surprise as he shook his head. "I hate to burst your bubble toots but I'm actually here on business."

"Oh." she said simply and blushed. Of course he wasn't stalking her. Why the hell had she said that? She cleared her throat once more as she tried to remain cool and composed. "And what kind of business is that?"

"Well I need some legal advice."

Stephanie raised her eyebrows and her blue eyes went wide. "So you've got yourself into a spot of trouble, huh? What kind of trouble?"

"You seem awfully interested." smiled Paul as he uncrossed his arms. He stood up from the chair causing Stephanie to take a step back. Her eyes were level with the smooth skin of his chest exposed by the open collar of his pale blue shirt. She swallowed thickly and tilted her head upwards. She found herself looking deeply into his pair of amazing brown eyes.

"Does the idea of me being a bad boy appeal to you, Stephanie?"

She quickly shook her head as she silently cursed him under her breath. He was a cocky bastard that was for sure. "Well that would be impossible being you don't appeal to me at all." she retorted.

"You just keep telling yourself that. You might believe it one day." he laughed.

Paul lifted his wrist and quickly checked his watch. His appointment time had been and gone half an hour ago. He usually hated being kept waiting yet he was prepared to tolerate it. Why not when he could mix business with pleasure? He'd be lying if he said he didn't know Stephanie worked here yet having to come here today was a total co-incidence. There were some major problems getting some draft construction plans approved. But by the looks of things it wouldn't get solved today not if the opposing company's attorney didn't get his ass in gear. But then again it meant he had the chance to talk with Stephanie. Over a week had passed and he still hadn't managed to make any progress. She was a tough one to crack but she would be all the sweeter when he did.

"So what are the chances of you actually getting incarcerated then?"

"Not as high as you'd like." smiled Paul.

"Anything less than a life sentence would be sorely disappointing to me."

"Ha ha. That's very funny." Paul shook his head in amusement. "You know should watch what you say to people. They might get the impression that you dislike them."

"Yet you still won't take the hint." she smiled.

"That's because deep down I know you actually like me despite your protests to the contrary."

Stephanie pressed her lips tightly together and shook her head at him. "You're delusional. You know that, don't you?"

"Oh I don't think so."

Paul lightly grabbed hold of Stephanie's arm and guided her towards the far corner of the waiting area. She glared at him incredulously trying to ignore the way her body tingled at his touch. It was probably static or something like that. Yes, that was probably it.

"Why are you manhandling me?" she hissed as she yanked her arm away from him.

Paul chuckled as he leaned down towards her ear. Stephanie breathed in sharply. He smelled absolutely incredible. His cologne was fresh and masculine. She could also detect the mint on his breath. Really, it had to be illegal for one person to smell this good.

"See the nice girl on the reception desk?"

Stephanie glanced over at Gemma who was trying to appear busy as she looked over in their direction. She had an almost dreamy expression on her face as her eyes settled on Paul. What was it with this guy anyway? Why did women find him so appealing? Even Natasha had been raving about him to her at the weekend. Apparently he was one of the sweetest men walking the face of this planet. Stephanie thought her friend was totally crazy. The man was a fucking Neanderthal.

"Well, she's been listening in on our conversation. I thought you might want a little more privacy."

Stephanie swallowed thickly. She could feel his warm breath on the side of her face and her knees lightly trembled at his deep, hushed tone. As her stomach flipped wildly, she somehow managed to maintain her cool exterior. Damn him and damn her body for betraying her.

"After all I'm sure you're the type of woman that keeps her personal life private." Paul concluded.

Stephanie took a step away from him in order to try and keep some space between them. It was hard to think with him standing so close to her. Plus, honestly, she had been in grave danger of sniffing at his neck. She was becoming totally pathetic. Licking her lips, she met his amused grin. "And what makes you assume you're anything to do with my personal life?"

"I'm not. You're right. But I plan on changing that though."

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well you are a very beautiful and smart woman, Stephanie. Not to mention you're pretty feisty." His brown eyes twinkled at her. "I happen to like the fact that you are a challenge to me." he admitted.

Stephanie shrugged her shoulders as she tried her best to act casual. "Well it's just a pity I'm not interested in you."

"You are. You just won't admit it to yourself." Paul replied confidently.

Stephanie found herself bristling in annoyance at his arrogance. What a smug dick! "And what makes you so sure of that?" she hissed loudly at him.

She noticed Gemma's head lift and look over at them from behind her desk. Stephanie tugged on Paul's arm turning them away from her. He smiled at her widely.

"Because I'm starting to realise something about you. You know, I think you like to be pursued. In fact I think it secretly turns you on."

Stephanie's mouth opened wide as she shook her head vehemently. "You are unbelievable. In fact, I can't even believe I am having this conversation with you."

Feeling slightly flustered by the whole encounter, she turned to walk away. Paul's hand firmly held her arm stopping her. She whipped her head round to glare at him. What the hell was this guy's problem? He obviously couldn't handle rejection.

"Look, just agree to go out with me and we can stop all of this."

"No."

"I'll just keep coming back until you do." he warned.

"You're wasting your time. My answer will still be the same."

Paul's lips upturned into a small smile as he took a step closer to her. His big brown eyes looked deeply into hers as he lowered his face towards her. Their noses were only millimetres apart as his warm breath danced across her skin and for a second she almost forgot to breathe.

"We'll see." he said simply lingering for a moment.

Stephanie could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Paul's fingers trailed lightly down her arm when he finally stepped back and let her go. She stood there frozen, her mind in a daze as she watched him check his watch and frown.

"I'm going to have to reschedule my appointment. I've got another meeting across town."

Stephanie swallowed thickly and nodded her head in acknowledgment. She was still struggling to think properly.

"So I guess I'll see you around, Stephanie."

She gave a small smile and watched him walk towards the reception desk. Paul had only taken a couple of steps before he turned back round. He smirked at her widely as he flipped her a wink.

"And you can bet that on that."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Stephanie's fingertips softly traced the silk petals of the dozen coral coloured roses. She smiled gently inhaling the beautiful scent wondering who on earth had sent them to her. It had definitely been her name on the delivery slip she had signed just a couple of minutes ago. It had been a long time since anyone had given her flowers. The last time had been almost two years ago and they had been from her cheating scum of an ex-boyfriend. The flowers had been his attempt at trying to ease his guilty conscience.

He'd been screwing around on her for weeks with his twenty year old secretary and she only found out by chance when she had visited him at his office late one night. She'd caught him sitting on his desk with his trousers around his ankles and his blonde slut's head nestled between his legs. From that moment on, she had sworn off all men and had focused on her career. It was the best move she had ever made because now she was successful and happy and more importantly, her heart was in one piece.

Men were a complication she just didn't need in her life but of course that didn't stop her feeling flattered that someone had sent her flowers. Of course there was every chance they could be from a client. It wasn't the first time the company been thanked with a floral gift but they had never been roses delivered personally to her and never this beautiful either.

"Isn't there a card?"

Stephanie shrugged her shoulders and her manicured hand searched carefully through the long stems. She caught Eve's hands wringing together as she watched her eagerly. She didn't know who was more excited about the flowers, herself or her secretary. Eve's face had lit up like a Christmas tree the moment the delivery man had carried them into her office and asked for a Miss McMahon.

"You know what coral roses represent?" asked Eve.

"Actually no, I don't." Stephanie's fingers found the small white envelope and pulled it from the bouquet. Her name was written in an unfamiliar scrawl across the front.

"They represent desire."

Stephanie raised her eyebrows fractionally as she placed the flowers down on her desk. She slid the card out from the envelope.

"I read it on a website once. It told you meaning of the different colours. Whoever sent you these chose the colour carefully."

Stephanie rolled her eyes before they settled on the card. In her experience, men were never that thoughtful. It was probably the florist who had selected them. As she read the neat looped words, her lips curved into an amused smile.

"What does it say?"

"I don't believe this." Stephanie paused for a second shaking her head. Her soft strands shifted across her slender shoulders. "I'll bet you a date, I'll bet you a kiss, I'll bet you can never guess who sent you this." she read.

"Oh my God, it's a riddle. Steph, you have a secret admirer." gushed Eve snatching the card from her hand. She pushed her caramel coloured strands behind her ear as she read it for herself.

Stephanie sat down on the edge of her desk and reached across to touch the flowers. She gently felt the petals once more. In all her twenty nine years, she'd never had a secret admirer. Who would have thought it?

"Do you have any idea who he is?"

Stephanie shook her head and smiled softly to herself as she looked towards the large glass window. There were heavy dark clouds forming in the blackening sky overhead. The weather report this morning had predicted thunder storms. Maybe she would head home before the heavens opened. She deserved an early night after being here until after ten yesterday evening. Despite her custody case being delayed, there had been a couple of reports she had needed to go over. Of course it had taken her longer than expected with her mind had refusing to focus on the task at hand. For some reason it kept drifting to other things, other things including her run-in with Paul yesterday afternoon.

God that man had gotten under her skin and not in a good way either. Stephanie's hand fell from the roses and rested on the top of her thigh. She felt her body bristle with annoyance at the mere thought of his name. Paul Levesque was becoming a thorn in her side and an extremely irritating thorn at that. He kept popping up everywhere she turned.

As her eyes glanced at the roses once more Stephanie's mouth suddenly parted in a surprised gasp. A thorn! Suddenly her mind began piecing things together as she remembered Paul's parting words of yesterday when he had given her that smug bloody smirk and he had winked at her as he left. He had told her then she could bet on seeing him around. The words on the card with the flowers kept referring to a bet. Her nose scrunched with her disapproval.

"Shit. It's him." she scowled. "It has to be."

"Who?" asked Eve quickly as she placed the card down on the desk.

"Paul."

"Who's Paul?"

"Only the most egotistical jerk I've ever met in my life."

Stephanie stood up from the desk, smoothing out the wrinkles in her blue skirt before she threw her hands around in the air pacing up and down in front of the window much to Eve's amusement who knew better and kept her smile concealed behind her hand.

"He's so cocky and arrogant. I swear the man thinks he's Gods gift to women."

Stephanie glanced briefly over at Eve, her blue eyes wide and incredulous. "Do you know he even had the nerve to tell me he was incredible in bed?! Like that would make me want to go there and find out! It takes more than a sexy smile and an amazing body to get my interest and so what if my legs turned to jelly when he whispered in my ear at that party? The man is a total asshole when he opens his mouth. Hell will freeze over before I get involved with the likes of him and no bouquet of roses will make me change my mind on that."

Stephanie finally had to stop her tirade to catch her breath. Her temperature felt like it had risen a couple of degrees in a matter of seconds and she tugged on the collar of her crisp white blouse in attempt to cool down a little.

"Well even so, you've got to admit the egotistical jerk has got some great taste in flowers." smiled Eve.

Stephanie sighed heavily as she stopped pacing. Her hand brushed through her hair, pushing it back over her forehead as her lips pressed together in a small smile. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"And I'm no expert in the male psyche, but in my experience men who come across as cocky and arrogant, well it's usually just a cover up for something else. They're hiding something."

Stephanie looked at her intrigued. "Really? Like what?"

Eve's feet shifted against the plush carpet as she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe your jerk has a few hang ups about himself."

"He has no hang ups, trust me. He couldn't."

"I don't know, Steph. Look at you. You're beautiful and successful. Maybe he feels intimidated by that and thinks he has to over compensate to get your attention."

"Well he's got my attention all right and not in a good way." Stephanie paused for a second as she stared ahead thoughtfully. Just then the phone rang visibly startling her and she saw Eve reach towards her desk to answer it.

"It's okay. I got it." she smiled.

Eve nodded her head and left. As she closed the door over behind her, Stephanie sat down in her chair. She swivelled around and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Hey, Steph."

Stephanie smiled at the sound of Natasha's voice. She could make out the sound of music and laughter in the background which meant she had obviously left work already. It didn't surprise her knowing Natasha. She was one of her oldest and dearest friends. They'd met in high school where they had fourth period biology class together and around the start of their freshman year, they'd been assigned lab partners for some nature project. It had involved them spending a lot of time outside of school and they got to know a lot about one another like their love of music and their loathing of Billie Forrester and her dumb bimbo friends. Their former Homecoming Queen was now divorced and serving fries at Wendy's, a fact that amused them no end considering the poor girl had boasted she would be rich and famous one day and had been the person in the yearbook voted most likely to succeed.

"I just wondered if you were coming out of that office of yours anytime soon. I have a tall glass of vodka and it has your name written all over it."

"You're drinking already?" asked Stephanie, surprised. She looked at the clock on the screen of her computer. It was a little after five in the afternoon.

"Hell yeah. Jamie's celebrating his new job meaning he's staying in Boston and we're having a little party at The Globe. You have to come. He's promised free drink all night."

"Oh I don't know Tash." she sighed as she looked at the stack of files on her desk. She may have planned an early night but she had intended to do a little work at home. One of the partners had a heart attack last week and his work had been delegated among the office while he was home recovering. She didn't want to fall behind especially when this could provide an opportunity to prove herself and take a step further to a possible promotion.

"Steph, please? I want you here. You can't leave me alone with these two all night."

Stephanie frowned. "These two?"

"Yeah. Jamie and Paul. Paul's not here yet but Jamie just called him. He's on his way."

Stephanie felt her heart give a tiny flip at the mention of his name and her eyes fell once again the roses. She shook her head slightly, annoyed with herself. Damn her body for once again reacting to him. She was becoming pathetic and acting like such a girl. Okay, he had sent her flowers but that didn't stop him from being a jerk. And he was a jerk, albeit a gorgeous one. One romantic gesture wouldn't change her opinion of him, definitely not. She wasn't that weak or stupid.

She heard someone shout Natasha's name in the background and her friend told them to wait one second before she came back on the line, slightly breathless.

"Look, I know you and Paul got off on the wrong foot and I know you think he's an asshole but Steph, this vodka is free. You never turn down free vodka."

Stephanie couldn't help but chuckle as she pushed back her chair.

"So I'll see you here in ten?"

"Tash, I don't know……"

"I'm not taking no for an answer, Steph. You, my friend, you need to live a little." she interrupted. "Oh and I'm hanging up now so you don't have a choice."

Stephanie sat there stunned as she heard the click down the line and listened to the low buzz of the dial tone. Her eyes blinked a few times before she placed the receiver down and her gaze drifted to the window. It had started to drizzle and the rain fell in zig-zags down the glass. It wouldn't be long before the thunder storm arrived. She should really go home and stick with her original plans to get some work done tonight. She had a bottle of Chardonnay chilling in the refrigerator too so there was no need for her to go out to have a drink. Besides, it would only mean a raging hangover in the morning and that she could live without. Her mind made up, Stephanie got up from her chair. She shut down her computer and putting on her coat, she flicked her hair over the collar. She scooped up the files and adjusted them in her arm before bending down and retrieving her handbag from the floor.

She only hesitated for a second before lifting up the roses and inhaling the heavenly scent as she walked quickly out of the office.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"So, how's Operation Ice Queen coming along?"

Paul rolled his eyes dryly as Jamie winked at him conspiratorially. He took a mouthful of beer and grimaced slightly as the icy coldness hit the back of his throat. Natasha was over by the tables in the corner. He silently pleaded with her to come back. At least when she was here their wager was a taboo subject for the simple reason Natasha would castrate them both if she knew what they were up to. She wouldn't take too kindly to her friend being a bet, a bet that he didn't want to admit he was quickly losing.

Stephanie was definitely proving to be the challenge of his life and ego or not, this was a strange and unique position for him to be in. He usually had no problems bedding a woman down but then again, Stephanie certainly wasn't like any women he had met before. His dogged persistence wasn't scoring him any points with her either. In fact it only seemed to make her more determined to reject his advances hence the reason why he had decided on a change of tactics and had sent her a bouquet of roses. Hopefully he could win her over with flowers. God knows he had to try something. He was quickly running out of options.

"She blew you off, didn't she?"

Paul shook his head as he leant back against the cherry wood bar. His fingers absently picked at the peeling label on his bottle. "I wouldn't say she blew me off exactly."

"Then what would you say?" grinned Jamie.

"I'd say she's just taking her time warming up to the idea of a date with me."

"Well she'd better warm up and quick." Jamie paused to lift his wrist and tap at the black face of his stainless steel watch. He winked at his friend. "Remember, the clock is ticking, Lev."

"Fuck off and buy me another beer."

Jamie heartily slapped his shoulder and laughed. His deep chuckle echoed around the bar as he lifted his hand to grab the bar tender's attention. Paul slowly wandered across to the fruit machine just a few feet away and his hand reached into his jeans pocket for some change.

"Yay! You made it!"

Paul's head turned in the direction of Natasha's booming voice, a trait she shared with her big brother. His brown eyes went wide as he saw her greet and hug Stephanie. He hadn't expected to see her here tonight. Her face was lit up with her beautiful smile. She was wearing a black wool coat which was unbuttoned and revealed her business suit complete with her short skirt. Man, the woman had killer legs and had obviously arrived here straight from work. He knew she would have received the flowers. He wondered if she had figured out yet that he was the one who had sent them. As Stephanie looked towards the bar, Paul quickly looked away and tried to concentrate on the fruit machine.

"I didn't think you'd come." said Natasha.

"Did I really have a choice?" asked Stephanie.

"No." she grinned. Natasha grabbed hold of her friend's cold hand and dragged her into the busy bar. People were milling around the large floor area, some were even dancing to the music. The heat instantly thawed Stephanie's cheeks and her fingers began to tingle as she tried not to question her own sanity for being here. See initially she had gone home like she had planned to. She'd even gone as far as to pour herself a glass of wine but as she brought it to her lips, her eyes had fallen on the vase of roses on the counter and she had felt the allure of the vodka instead. Or at least she told herself it was the vodka. There was no way she was admitting to herself it was the flowers or the man who had sent them to her. It had taken her exactly ten minutes to pull on her coat and take a cab here. Her apartment was only a couple of blocks away but the rain was pouring down outside and there was no chance she was turning up soaked and dishevelled. And that was for her benefit not anybody else's.

Stephanie pushed her way through the bodies as she followed Natasha and eventually noticed Paul and Jamie over by the fruit machine and it appeared she wasn't the only one watching them. Some small brunette and her friend were practically foaming at the mouth as they stared in their direction. Stephanie shook her head and chuckled lightly to herself. The girls looked like they were barely legal and still in school. As she rested her elbows against the cherry wood bar, she saw Jamie appear beside her.

"Hello Stephanie."

"Hello." she smiled. She could see Paul out of the corner of her eye. He was talking to Natasha at the fruit machine and his hair was pushed behind his ears. His leather coat was unbuttoned and she could see his navy v-necked sweater. He wore a white t-shirt underneath and a faded pair of jeans. His big hand was gesturing as he talked. He did that quite a lot. Not that she'd noticed or if she had it certainly wasn't intentional. After all, she didn't like the guy, a fact she had to constantly remind herself of. She also wasn't interested in his habits not to mention his lack of manners.

"I'm glad you could make it. Tash said you might."

Stephanie nodded. "Congratulations on the job by the way."

Jamie's smile lit up his tanned face. He raked his fingers through his short dark, hair as he shuffled his feet underneath him. "Thanks. It was all down to Paul actually. I told him I was sick of working abroad and that I wanted to stay here in Boston so he contacted a couple of guys and lined me up with an interview. I got word that I got the job this afternoon which is why we're here tonight celebrating. Speaking of which, can I get you a drink?"

She nodded her head and smiled. "I'll have a long vodka please."

"I'll make it a double." Jamie winked at her and pointed in Paul's direction. "Lev's buying. You might as well take advantage of it."

He turned towards the bar and ordered her a drink not before he noticed Stephanie glance over at Paul. He smiled to himself as she gazed at him almost wistfully. It looked like the Ice Queen could be melting towards his friend after all and not before time although it was obvious after seeing them at the party last week that both of them were attracted to one another. You could cut the sexual tension between them with a knife. Their bickering and insults were clearly some screwed up mating ritual. And while he was reluctant to part with his money, he had to admit it was only a matter of time before something happened between them. And he wasn't stupid. He knew the bet was just a convenient excuse for Paul to actively pursue Stephanie anyway and it helped him mask the fact he actually liked her.

Paul may not have said as much but he knew his best friend and his attraction to Stephanie had surprised him more than a little. Stephanie wasn't like the other girls Paul usually dated. She was intelligent for a start and was one tough broad but she was way better than Nicole who quite honestly, Jamie had no time for. She had wanted to tie Paul down and bleed him dry in the process.

The bar tender passed him the vodka and Stephanie smiled her thanks as Jamie handed her the frosted glass.

"Jamie, they're playing our song. Come and dance with me." said Natasha pulling him by the hand.

Jamie laughed and followed his sister to join the small crowd of people in the centre of the floor. Both of them began to bounce up and down in time with the music. Stephanie sipped her drink and suddenly became conscious of Paul standing next to her. He was smirking at her as he chomped on his gum. She tried to ignore the strange sensation in her stomach. It was probably gas. She wasn't the least bit attracted to this man. She couldn't be. She swallowed the cold vodka and offered him a reluctant smile. "Hey."

"Hey yourself."

Stephanie bit down on her lip. Her finger began to lightly trace the rim of her glass. "I guess I should thank you for the flowers. They were beautiful by the way."

Paul's brown eyes widened and he chuckled softly. "I guess my cryptic message wasn't so cryptic after all."

"Not so much, no."

She paused for a second as she took another sip from her drink. Her blue eyes lifted to meet his incredible brown ones.

"I just don't get why you sent them to me in the first place."

"Well maybe I just wanted to show you that my interest in you was actually genuine."

"Really?" she scoffed, the disbelief evident in her voice.

"Yeah really!" Paul pushed his hair back from his forehead and casually shrugged his shoulders. "Well that and maybe I thought I would appeal to you more by showing you my romantic side."

"You have one of those?"

"Actually, yes I do and I can prove it to you if you let me take you out for dinner tomorrow night."

Stephanie's blue eyes went wide before her gaze dropped to the floor and she slowly licked her lips. They felt wet and cold from the ice in her drink.

"Ah, you're hesitating. You're thinking about it, aren't you?" he said, taunting her.

She lifted her head and glared at him. Paul was wearing that smug smirk of his again. She immediately felt herself bristle with annoyance. "No, I'm not."

"Yes you are. Just admit it."

Stephanie shook her head. "Trust me, Paul. You're so not my type."

"I don't believe you toots."

"Don't call me that!" she hissed and tried not to notice how close he was standing to her or how amazing he smelled. She shook her head in annoyance. "Look, what's it going to take to get it through to you that I'm just not interested and that going out with you would be nothing but a huge mistake?"

"Well you prove it." he said simply.

"Excuse me?"

Paul smiled as he placed his bottle down on the bar and rested his forearms against the wood. He turned his head towards her and licked his lips as he shifted his feet beneath him. Her blue eyes were narrowed in his direction as she glared at him. Fuck, she was even sexier when she was pissed off. He'd need to make a mental note of that for future reference.

"Well, are you going to explain yourself or are you going to just stand there like some fucking mute?"

Paul chuckled as he straightened up and leant his hip against the bar. "Woman, are you always this disagreeable or is it just me?"

"It's just you."

"That's nice to know."

"It would also be nice to know what the hell you meant earlier."

"What I meant was what I said." Paul's big hand reached across and lifted his bottle of beer. "Prove that going out with me would be a huge mistake." He brought the bottle to his lips and took a drink.

She tried not to notice how smooth his neck looked or how his throat bobbed up and down as he swallowed. Instead she cleared her own throat and diverted her eyes. "And how would I do that?"

He pressed his lips together before smiling widely. His bottle dangled between his fingers. "By letting me take you to dinner."

Stephanie shook her head in disbelief and her mouth parted to say something but before she could, Paul had lifted his hand to silence her.

"Hold on, before you bite my head off let me explain myself."

"This had better be good." she muttered before taking a large mouthful of her drink. Her blue eyes were sceptical. Paul smiled and tucked a lock of hair behind his ear.

"It's quite simple really. We go out and if you have a horrible time, then I promise I'll leave you alone."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." he agreed.

"I can't believe I'm even considering this."

Stephanie just stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. She should probably be locked up for even entertaining this idea. It was crazy and stupid yet strangely appealing especially if it meant getting rid of his lame advances. Her manicured finger pointed at his chest. "If I agree to this, and it's a big if, it can't be dinner."

"Why not?"

"I don't do dinner on a first date. I hate eating in front of strangers. It's weird and uncomfortable and I don't like it."

Paul tried to contain his amusement. "Then where?"

"I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders. "We could go to the movies or something."

"Good idea. If we didn't hit it off, we wouldn't even have to talk to one another if we didn't want to."

The corner of Stephanie's lips twitched in a smile. "I suppose. Plus with it being dark I don't even have to look at you either."

"See? You're a winner all round." grinned Paul.

"Of course to seal the deal there would have to be candy involved."

"I thought you hated eating in front of strangers."

Stephanie glared at him. "Candy doesn't count."

"Then I guess I'll agree to the candy."

"Then in that case, I guess I'll agree to the date."

Paul grinned widely and winked at her. "Great. Hey and who knows you might even enjoy yourself too. I mean what's the worst that could happen here?"

Stephanie forced a smile and tried to ignore the strange sensation in her chest and the voice in her head telling her that she'd possibly just made the biggest and most dangerous mistake of her life.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Paul stood outside the impressive apartment block. A car rumbled past as he tilted his head upwards and stared at the fourth floor where he knew Stephanie lived. He tucked his long blonde hair behind his ear as he checked for signs of any life inside. Lights were on in three out of the four large paned windows. It was a safe bet to say she was probably still at home.

Stuffing his hands in his leather coat pockets, small droplets of rain lightly kissed his face. A thin blanket of clouds covered the black night sky as the full moon peeked through the top. He had read somewhere that murder rates increased during a full moon. Maybe by coming here, he was in danger of becoming a statistic. Stephanie wasn't the most amenable of women at the best of times. The fact he was over an hour late picking her up for their date meant he was taking his life in his own hands. Still, the least he could do was apologise and hope she understood that it totally wasn't his fault. Some dumb bastard had decided to smash into the back of his car on the way home from work. Fuck, it was practically brand new too. It didn't even have five thousand miles on the clock and if that wasn't bad enough, he'd been stuck on the freeway for the better part of two hours while one of the slowest cops known to man tried to sort out the mess. What made it even worse was that dumb bastard spoke hardly any English. The whole situation would have been quite hilarious really if it wasn't for the fact it was his car that was involved. His brand new fucking Explorer! The back door was dented in badly and the bumper was a total mangled mess. Much like his balls were going to be once Stephanie got her hands on him.

Chuckling to himself, Paul walked towards the entrance. Maybe he should have brought another bouquet of flowers to help him apologise to her. The roses he had sent this week had definitely softened the Ice Queen up. No one had been more surprised than him when Stephanie had agreed to a date, albeit reluctantly. He'd genuinely thought he'd have to pull out all the stops although what those were exactly, he hadn't been sure. He'd just been planning to wing it with more flowers, chocolates or even a teddy bear or something. Women were into all that kind of shit or at least Nicole had been.

Screwing up his nose slightly at the thought of her name, Paul quickly pushed all thoughts of her aside. It had been over three months since she had left him and he hadn't heard a word from her since. It was good riddance as far as he was concerned. The woman had been a leech and had been determined to suck him dry. His bank account had breathed a sigh of relief the day she had walked out the door that was for sure.

Paul's feet scuffed along the tarmac and he took his hand out of his pocket as he scanned the names on the large stainless steel intercom. Hers was there between a C. Lowenstein and a D. A. Burchill. S. M. McMahon. He wondered what the M stood for. His thick finger hovered for a second before pressing the buzzer. The rain was starting to fall a little heavier now. Damp strands were beginning to stick to his forehead. He wiped away a trickle of water from his wet cheek and stared at the intercom impatiently as he waited for Stephanie to answer. What was taking her so long anyway? He pressed the button again this time deliberately keeping his finger there for at least a few seconds. Stephanie still refused to answer. Paul sighed heavily and retraced his steps. Maybe she wasn't at home after all. The rain fell softly on his face as he looked up at the building. A dark mop of hair quickly disappeared from view. Paul's lips curved into a slow smile as he realised she was ignoring him. Stephanie was actually ignoring him. Little did she realise, he didn't like to be ignored not to mention the fact he was a determined bastard.

His brown eyes glinted wickedly as he pressed on the buzzer again, this time hitting it in short, quick bursts with the soft pad of his thumb. He leaned his shoulder against the brick wall and smiled as he imagined her up there pacing around calling him every expletive under the sun. Her beautiful blue eyes would be dark with her anger as she grabbed every sharp object she could find no doubt threatening death or torture. It was probably the latter. She seemed like the kind of chick that liked to inflict pain. He wondered how long it would take her to reach breaking point. As he continued to press the buzzer, he decided it could only be a matter of seconds. He shifted his feet and pushed back his wet hair. He wasn't disappointed when her voice shrieked at him down the intercom.

"Buzz that once more and I swear to God, I'll kick you so hard you'll be eating your balls for breakfast."

Paul laughed as he heard the entrance door click open behind him and buzzing once more for badness, he entered the clean smelling lobby. He shook himself getting rid of the excess rain water. It looked like there would be a storm tonight. He tucked his wet strands behind his ears. The elevators were to his right but he decided to take the stairs instead. He didn't like to admit it but he felt a little claustrophobic in those things. His feet thumped against the concrete as he ascended the steps. His chest rose and fell with his raised breathing as he walked along the carpeted hallway. The décor was clean and fresh and a floral smell lingered in the air.

As he approached the white panelled door with the gold number ten, he saw it open and Stephanie appeared in the doorway. His first thought was how pretty she looked. She wore a pair of denim jeans and a black blouse unbuttoned to her cleavage. Her hair fell around her shoulders in soft waves and her make up was light and subtle. He couldn't deny that physically, he was attracted to her. Suddenly her blue eyes narrowed as she spotted him in front of her. Her top lip curled upwards into a slight snarl as she leant against the wooden doorframe, her arms folded across her chest. Stephanie looked pissed yet alarmingly sexy. At least there was no evidence of sharp objects around. Well, except for her tongue that is.

"I was hoping you would actually get a clue and leave me the hell alone." she snapped.

Paul shook his head as he chomped on his gum. "Not going to happen, toots."

Stephanie felt herself bristle in annoyance at the smug tone in his voice. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that!"

As Paul smirked, she tried to tell herself she didn't find him in the least bit attractive. Who actually cared if he had the most beautiful brown eyes she had ever seen or a smile that made her stomach feel totally weird? Or hair that even wet she had the urge to run her fingers through. And okay, the man could wear a pair of jeans like no-one else but it still didn't excuse his inability to use a fucking watch. He was late. Extremely bloody late! The least he could do was look a little remorseful about it. But no, here he was intent on winding her up further by calling her toots and acting like a fucking idiot by playing with the intercom. Stephanie flicked her hair back from her shoulders as she glared at him.

"You know, you've got some fucking nerve coming here."

Paul's smile faded as he pressed his lips together. He sighed softly as he shifted his feet against the plain beige carpet. "Look I know and if you'd let me explain….."

Stephanie quickly shook her head effectively cutting him off. Quite frankly, she'd heard enough lame excuses to last her a lifetime. "There's nothing to explain. You're over an hour late and honestly I'm no longer interested in a guy that doesn't even have the decency to call me to tell me that."

His big hand lifted to push back his hair. "I would have called you but I don't have your number."

"And you haven't heard of a telephone directory?"

"You're not listed."

"Oh." she said simply surprised that he had checked.

"And you knew that. You're just testing me to see if I'm feeding you a line or if I did actually try to call."

Stephanie sniffed as she lifted her hand and trying to be casual, she pretended to check her red, perfectly manicured nails. They should be perfect. She'd spent thirty bucks on them this just morning. "What about Tasha? You could have got my number from her." She lifted her head, sneering at him. "But then again, that would require you to use the few brain cells you have."

Paul smiled widely amused by her. "You're actually crediting me with those? Now I am impressed."

Her nose wrinkled with annoyance. "Look, Paul, what do you want?"

"I want to apologise to you, that's what. Look, someone crashed into my car on the way home from work. We had to call the police and I was late getting home and…….well, you know the rest."

"So you've apologised." she said. "Now you can leave."

Paul shook his head in disbelief as he threw his hands into the air. "So you're not going to even give me a chance?"

"You had your chance. You blew it." she said matter of factly before closing the door over. It had only shut just a fraction before Paul's hand pushed on it, effectively stopping her.

"Wait. So that's it? The date is over?"

Stephanie glared at him. "In case you haven't realised Paul, it's not even started and to be honest, a guy who can't even make the effort on the first date is really not worth my time or my energy."

"The first date?" Paul raised his eyebrows fractionally and smiled at her. "You know, to me that indicates you expected a second to happen."

"Well you're delusional because there's not even going to be a first date let alone a second." she scowled. "Goodbye Paul."

Stephanie tried to close the door but once again Paul stopped her. His big hand rested on the wood as he leaned towards her. She shook her head at him angrily as she reluctantly breathed in his intoxicating cologne. What was it with this guy? He obviously couldn't take the hint that she wanted nothing to do with him no matter how bloody amazing he smelled.

"You know, me being late? It's really a convenient excuse for you, isn't it?"

Stephanie inhaled sharply as her eyes locked with Paul's gorgeous brown ones. For once, there was no evident mischievous glint there. The expression they wore was almost serious, something she wasn't used to. Not with Paul. It unnerved her and she shifted anxiously under his intense stare. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"What I mean is you don't have to put yourself out there now. You don't have to take a risk. The idea of dating someone, getting close to them, it scares the crap out of you doesn't it?"

"God, who do you think you are? Fucking Freud or something?" she snapped.

Her blue eyes were angry and Paul knew he'd hit the nail on the head. It hadn't been hard to figure out by all accounts. Not once he'd taken the time to really think about it. Her scathing comments and defensiveness were all a front. They were a cleverly built disguise to protect herself. Someone had really done a number on Stephanie making sure other guys would always pay the price.

"Who was he, Steph?"

"Who?"

"The guy that broke your heart."

Stephanie shook his hand away and stepped back from him, folding her arms across her chest defensively. His voice was too soft, too caring. She didn't want this. She didn't need his sympathy. Not from him. Paul was an over confident, arrogant prick who thought he was God's gift to woman. What would he know about a broken heart anyway? Sleeping around was hardly grounds for knowledge about real relationships. The guy probably hadn't had a serious relationship in his entire life.

She furrowed her brow and glared at him. "You know what? That's none of your business." she said in a harsh tone.

Paul's shoulder's rose and fell with his heavy sigh. "You're right and I'm sorry." He paused for a second as he licked his lips, his brown eyes almost scrutinising her. "But for what it's worth we're not all like him you know."

"Of course you are. In fact, you probably know him. All bastards know one another, don't they?"

Paul shook his head almost sadly as he tucked a lock of damp hair behind his ear. "Contrary to what you believe, I'm not a bastard, Steph." He looked at her for a moment, his brown eyes contemplative. "But I guess you're just not willing to take the risk and let me prove it to you, are you?"

Stephanie swallowed thickly as she remained silent.

"I'm sorry I ruined our date." he said sincerely. He smiled at her softly as he began to slowly back away from her. "Goodnight Stephanie."

Stephanie could only stand and watch as his large frame disappeared down the hallway. She couldn't deny that there had been something in his voice that made her regret not giving him a chance to explain himself. Maybe it was the fact that for once, he sounded completely genuine. Paul's apology had been nothing but sincere and contrite. Maybe she had been too hasty letting him go but then again, it was probably for the best. Nothing could have happened between them anyway. Going out on this date would have only given him false hope. Love was a complication she didn't need or want in her life even if she had the feeling in her gut that she might have just passed up on a chance for something pretty great.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Excuse the mess."

Stephanie smiled at Natasha as she sat down on the navy cloth sofa removing the large cream cushion from behind her back and placing it down next to her. She sunk into the padding feeling her feet instantly sigh with relief. She'd been in court all day and her soles were burning in her new black high heeled shoes. She resisted the urge to kick them off as her eyes drifted around the small room. Her hands smoothed out the wrinkles of her black pencil skirt as she spotted the three large cardboard boxes underneath the window. A sleeve from a red sweater hung over one of the edges and a worn basketball lay on the floor beside them.

"Jamie officially invaded my apartment an hour ago." explained Natasha as she walked into the small kitchen area. A minute or so later she returned with two long stemmed glasses in her hand and a bottle of wine. She held up the slim green bottle and grinned. "And see, he's driven me to drink already."

Stephanie laughed as Natasha sat down next to her, the sofa shifting underneath her weight. She hunched forward as she placed the glasses down on the small pine coffee table and pushing a blonde lock of hair behind her ear, she began to pour the wine. Soft music played from the chrome stereo on the shelves behind them.

"God knows what he'll come back with on this journey. This is the second one and it had better be the last. I've warned him that he'd better not clutter up this place with his crap. I've nowhere to store the damn stuff."

Stephanie thanked Natasha as she accepted her glass of wine. The liquid sloshed dangerously around the rim and she took a quick sip before it spilled as she stretched one leg out in front of her. She winced slightly as the sharp tang hit the back of her throat. "Staying with your parents wasn't an option for him then?" she asked.

Natasha chuckled as she sat back in her seat, her slim fingers gripping the stem of her glass. "Not when it was Mom and Dad that basically kicked him out in the first place. I think we've both been gone from home for so long that having one of their kids back in the nest was too much for them to handle especially Jamie. He's not the tidiest person in the world and his loud music drives them totally nuts."

"So you drew the short straw then?" smiled Stephanie.

"Unfortunately, yes. He called me up this morning begging and pleading to take him in until he found a place of his own." Natasha took a mouthful of her wine and balancing her glass in her hand, turned in the seat to face her friend. She tucked her leg underneath as she pushed back her hair once more. "But that was only after he'd run out of other options of course. Apparently the large television and pool table at Paul's house were much more appealing than my spare room but Paul refused point blank to let Jamie stay with him."

Stephanie forced a smile before quickly taking a mouthful of her drink. Paul. God, even hearing his name unsettled her and while she'd spent the better part of the last few days trying her best not to think about him, her mind kept constantly drifting to him much to her total annoyance. She'd had a pile of work she had needed to get through today but she hadn't been able to concentrate on the papers in front of her. Instead she kept thinking about Friday night and if she was honest, her guilt over how she had treated Paul. After all, he had seemed genuinely apologetic for being late for their date although it hadn't been so much his words but the sincere expression in his deep brown eyes. See, she had made the grave mistake of letting herself fall into them for one split second. The one split second that was so short yet long enough for her to realise that falling into his eyes was extremely dangerous for her and it was a mistake she couldn't afford to ever repeat. Not if she wanted to keep her sanity.

"I think he's still traumatised after rooming with Jamie at college." joked Natasha.

But her smile turned into a look of amused curiosity as she noticed Stephanie wasn't even listening to her. Her attention was obviously somewhere else as she stared off into space. Natasha took a sip of her wine and her brown eyes narrowed inquisitively at her as the track changed on the stereo filling the room with the first chords of some rock ballad. "Steph, are you okay?"

The blank expression on Stephanie's face lifted as she was brought of her haze.

"Huh?"

"You were miles away."

"Sorry." she smiled apologetically.

"You got something on your mind?"

Natasha took a sip of her wine as Stephanie shook her head almost vehemently. She fought the urge to smile as she swallowed her drink and realised she should have rephrased her question and replaced the something with someone. See Stephanie wasn't fooling anyone least of all her. They had been best friends for as long as she could remember and her friend had been in a permanent funk for a couple of weeks now and there were no prizes for guessing the reason why. He was six foot plus and blonde and his name was Paul. Stephanie would deny it of course but it was pretty obvious she was attracted to him and it had been the first time in a long time that anyone had affected her in this way. The last guy had been Rob and he had broken her heart. Since then, Stephanie had done her best to protect herself and had put up so many walls refusing to let anyone close in fear of getting hurt again. Yet somehow, someway Paul had found a way to break them down if only long enough for Stephanie to give him a chance and agree to a date. Although, unfortunately that hadn't quite gone as expected when Paul had smashed his car and turned up late giving Stephanie the perfect opportunity she needed to push him away when it was obvious that fear had gotten the better of her. She just hoped she saw sense and gave him a second chance because Paul was really a great guy and in her eyes, he'd be perfect for her.

Natasha absently twirled the stem of her glass between her fingers and decided just to broach the subject. God knows, Stephanie wouldn't. The girl was in serious denial and she needed to snap out of it and quick. She cleared her throat and smiled as Stephanie took a sip of wine.

"Paul was really sorry your date got screwed up, you know."

"I highly doubt it."

Natasha raised her eyebrows fractionally saying nothing.

"That guy doesn't have a sincere bone in his body. Not to mention the fact he's completely in love with himself and probably to the point he even cries out his own name in bed." said Stephanie as she shifted on her seat and took another mouthful of wine.

Natasha slowly shook her head but she wasn't surprised by the reply she had gotten. Her friend's defences were up and she had been expecting that. It happened every time his name was mentioned. "You know you've really got him pegged all wrong." she told her.

"Really? Well I don't think so."

"Well I do. Paul is such a nice guy."

"Then if he's such a nice guy, why does he act like such an egotistical jerk?" asked Stephanie.

"Maybe for the same reason you come across as cold and bitter to anyone with a set of balls between his legs."

Stephanie mouth's parted to speak but before she could say a word, Natasha lifted her hand to silence her.

"And before you refute that fact, you do too. It's the reason why you've not had a date in like forever."

Stephanie licked her lips sticking her chin out somewhat defiantly. "I'm just not interested in dating anyone, that's all."

"Yet you agreed to go out with Paul."

"That was a moment of temporary insanity. I lost my mind."

"Yeah? Well I'm not buying it and actually you and Paul? Well you are a lot more alike than you think."

"And how on earth do you make that one out?"

Stephanie's nose scrunched in disbelief as her blue eyes stared at Natasha. What the hell would she have in common with him? The wine had obviously gone to her friend's head already because she clearly wasn't thinking straight. She couldn't be. She was nothing like Paul.

"Well……." Natasha paused to place her glass down on the table before settling back against the cushions and resting her forearm on her bent leg. "You tell me Paul comes across as cocky and arrogant to you, right?"

Stephanie nodded.

"Well he's nothing like that really. See, it's all a front and the reason he acting that way in front of you is because he likes you but is obviously protecting himself too. You're not the only one who has been hurt in a relationship, you know. Paul was too. Her name was Nicole. They were together for about three years I think."

Stephanie sat in stunned surprise. She'd figured Paul's idea of commitment had been sticking around for breakfast the morning after. She never dreamed he had been in a serious relationship let alone one where he got hurt. Suddenly she was intrigued in spite of herself. "What happened?" she asked.

"He came home one night and Nicole was gone. She'd just packed her things and left leaving a note on the kitchen table. Apparently she couldn't handle the lonely dinners or the amount of hours Paul spent working. Jamie told me she used to constantly lay the guilt trip on him accusing him of loving his job more than her. Of course, that didn't stop her from enjoying his money and trying to bleed him dry in the process. She even emptied their joint bank account before she left."

Stephanie shook her head, her chestnut strands shifting across her shoulders. "Poor Paul! What a bitch!"

Nicole grinned widely at her reaction. "Can I believe my ears? Is that you actually sympathising with him? You must be weakening towards him, Steph."

"No!" she exclaimed far too quickly.

"Yes you are. Come on, this is me you're talking to, remember? You can admit you like him."

"Well I don't."

"You do."

"No I don't." she protested weakly feeling the heat rise to her face. Stephanie lifted her fingers to her neck pushing back her white shirt collar and took another mouthful of wine ignoring her friend's snorts of amusement. Honestly, Tasha was so juvenile. This was like being back in junior high when she had a crush on that boy. What was his name? She didn't remember only that it began with a D.

"Well if you're so adamant you don't like Paul, why did you agree to go to the movies with him? There must have been some reason."

"If you must know it was the only way I could get rid of him."

"A simple no, I'm not interested usually does the trick."

"Not with him!" said Stephanie as she reached over and placed her empty wine glass on the table.

"Yeah, well Paul is pretty stubborn and determined." admitted Natasha.

"And there are a few more choice adjectives I could call him."

Natasha laughed as Stephanie pushed up the sleeves of her blouse and absently rubbed at her nose. "But even you have to admit he is good looking." Her manicured finger shot out poking her friend in the arm. "Deny that one and I will know you're totally lying to me."

Stephanie pressed her lips together quickly to disguise the smile that twitched at the corner of her mouth and tried to act casual as she shrugged her shoulders. "He's okay."

Natasha snorted. "Just okay?! God, now I know you're in serious denial. You can't even admit you find him attractive."

Stephanie glanced down at her fingernails, gently flicking at them. Oh she was attracted to Paul alright much to her dismay. Just his smile alone caused butterflies to flutter in her chest. It was her mother who once told her if she ever felt them, to never lose those butterflies because it was rarely in your life that they came along. The problem was though, they scared her to death because with them came the huge risk of putting herself out there only to get her heart broken once again and she wasn't sure she could do that. Not when she could still remember the pain from the last time.

"It is okay to like him, you know."

Stephanie tilted her head upwards to see Natasha watching her carefully. Her pretty brown eyes were sympathetic and understanding. Tasha was the only one who knew how badly Rob had hurt her. She had been the one to pick up the pieces after all, consoling her and reassuring her that in time she would be okay, that she would find a way to get past it all and move on. And she had been right. She had gotten over Rob eventually. But moving on, well that took a huge leap of courage and faith, something she wasn't sure she was ready to do even though at times she felt so lonely. Still, the loneliness was a small price to pay for keeping her heart firmly in tact.

"Not all men are bastards like Rob."

Stephanie shook her head softly in disbelief and she couldn't help the small, crooked smile that spread across her face. "Funny. Paul said the exact same thing to me the other night."

"Well he's right you know." smiled Natasha. "They're not and contrary to what you believe about him, Paul is a really sweet, funny guy."

Stephanie lowered her eyes to her hands in her lap.

"Maybe you should give him another chance."

A sad smile traced her lips as she looked at her once more. "I can't."

"Yes you can Steph." Natasha's hand reached out to her shoulder and squeezed it affectionately. "I mean, how can you expect to be happy if you won't put yourself out there? Do you really want to give Rob the satisfaction of seeing you permanently miserable?"

"I'm not miserable. I'm happy."

Natasha pressed her lips together and stared at her in blatant disbelief. Stephanie sighed softly as she realised she was fooling absolutely nobody, including herself. She had no choice but to be honest here.

"Okay, maybe not as happy as I'm making out." she admitted.

"Although you could be if you let yourself."

Stephanie snorted and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "You make it sound so simple.

"It is really." Natasha smiled as she reached over for her wine glass. "Just go out with Paul and see it as a chance to get to know him a little better." She settled back on the sofa adjusting the cushion beside her. "Trust me, once you get to know the real Paul, you'll see what a great guy he is. He's a lot of fun to be around. You'll like him."

Stephanie slowly shook her head. "I don't know Tash."

Natasha placed her hand on her slender arm, her wide brown eyes staring intently at her. "Paul's not going to hurt you, Steph. He's been there too, remember?"

Stephanie sighed and nodded reluctantly.

"Besides, it's only one little date. What harm can it do?"

She chewed on her lip thoughtfully as she glanced towards the floor. Natasha was right. It was only one little date. She'd been on those before after all. In fact, she'd had more than her fair share over the years but none of them made her as nervous or as anxious as the thought of this one. For some reason it felt like so much more was at stake. God, maybe she was just over analysing this whole damn thing. After all, it was only a little fun. It wasn't like she was planning to marry the guy or anything. All she had to do was keep it casual. There was no risk involved in that. But if that was the case, why did she still feel so terrified? The loud banging at the door startled her and she placed her hand to her chest as Natasha got to her feet.

"Tash? I forgot my key."

It was Jamie. When the door opened, he stumbled through with two boxes stacked in his arms hiding his face from view.

"Don't close the door." he called out as he bent down and placed them next to the others. He wiped at his brow. His cheeks were scarlet as he dusted off his white and black football jersey. "There are just a couple more to come."

Natasha sighed heavily as she raked her slim fingers through her blonde hair. "Damn it, Jamie. This had better the last of them."

"Relax, sis. Whatever I can't fit in here, I'll just store at Paul's house."

"And he's okay with that?"

"Well, I've still to mention it to him." he smirked.

"Jamie!"

He lifted his hand to calm her. "Lev will be cool Tasha. Don't worry about it." He glanced around the room and smiled when he saw Stephanie. "Hey, Steph." His feet shifted on the floor as he pushed back his short, dark strands. "I didn't realise you were coming over today."

Stephanie's blue eyes narrowed in his direction. Why would it matter if she was here? Just then she heard the footsteps outside the door and her heart flipped in her chest as she heard his voice.

"Riggs, you're one lazy son of a bitch. I don't know why the fuck I volunteered to help you when you leave all the heavy stuff for me to cart around instead of your sorry ass doing it."

Jamie rolled his eyes and laughed as Paul walked through with two huge boxes in his arms and an electric guitar that somehow stayed balanced between the boxes and his huge body. Only his black trousers and shoes were visible as Jamie guided him towards the window. As Stephanie's big blue eyes stared widely at her friend, Natasha grimaced and mouthed her apology. Stephanie tried to calculate how quickly she could leave and if she could make it out the door before Paul even noticed her sitting there. God knows this would be horrible and awkward yet somehow her body felt paralysed to the spot. She couldn't move. Maybe she didn't want to leave. She pushed back her hair and mentally scolded herself for even thinking that. It was absurd and completely ridiculous. Of course, she wanted to leave. She didn't want to see Paul at all. Not really. And the fact that her heart felt like it was racing at one hundred miles an hour meant nothing, absolutely nothing.

"Just dump them right over there."

Stephanie swallowed thickly as she heard the loud thud and didn't once look over in the direction of the window. Instead she pretended to busy herself with the wine and hastily poured herself another glass. God knows she needed a drink. The liquid glugged out of the bottle as her eyes remained focused on the table.

"You know I bet half of this stuff is nothing but total shit." said Paul as he rubbed at his white shirt. His back was turned towards Stephanie as he flipped his grey silk tie over his right shoulder and continued to dust himself off wrinkling his nose at the black dirty mark on the cotton material.

"It's not shit! It's all state of the art, man." huffed Jamie as he lifted his guitar from the top of one of the boxes and shoved it in front of Paul's face. "I mean look at this baby. I paid a thousand bucks for her." His big calloused hand rubbed the polished black instrument and his fingers lightly traced the strings. "She's beautiful isn't she?"

"You know you need some sort of help for that, right?" Paul said, raising his eyebrows in amusement.

"See, you're not artistically gifted like myself, my friend." replied Jamie, shaking his head. "I don't expect you to understand." His fingers continued to caress the strings lovingly.

"And quite frankly, I don't think I want to." Paul chuckled as he pushed back his hair and tugging down his shirt, he fixed his tie that sat loose around his unbuttoned collar.

"Here, I got you guys a beer."

Paul turned to smile at Natasha taking the drink from her hands. "You're an angel. You know that don't you?"

Natasha grinned as she passed a beer to Jamie. As Paul's thick fingers wrapped around the chilled bottle, he turned from the window and that was when he saw her sitting there. Stephanie was flicking through a magazine trying her best to appear engrossed in it no doubt trying to ignore him in the process. She was probably still pissed off at him after Friday and he couldn't blame her really. He had definitely crossed a line he shouldn't have when he brought up her past relationship but he had said it anyway knowing deep down he would get a reaction from her. It was the same way whenever he was around her. He found himself constantly wanting to push her buttons. He wanted to get underneath her skin. He just couldn't seem to help himself. Stephanie seemed to bring out the worst in him. She was like no other woman he had met before. She was feisty, challenging and also pretty damn hot sitting there cross legged with her hair flicked over her shoulder. Her black skirt had ridden up her thigh exposing her long toned leg. Paul allowed his eyes to linger for just a fraction of second longer than he should have as she chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. Fuck, if the Ice Queen had any idea he was checking her out right now, she'd probably rip his balls off and the sick thing was he'd probably like that. Christ. Jamie wasn't the only one who needed help around here. Paul quickly took a mouthful of the cold beer and feeling the tap on his arm, he lifted his gaze to see Natasha smiling at him. Her brown eyes were twinkling as she leant towards his ear.

"Quick. Go and talk to her."

She pushed him in Stephanie's direction before he even had a chance to protest. He practically stumbled to the edge of the sofa just in time to see Natasha and Jamie disappear into the kitchen only stopping long enough to give him the quick thumbs up. Juvenile bastards! They were deliberately leaving him alone with her. He'd kill them when he got his hands on them.

Paul hesitated for a moment before he sighed softly and slowly sat down on the sofa beside Stephanie. The cushions shifted underneath his weight as he awkwardly cleared his throat to get her attention. She was still deliberately staring at the magazine.

"Well if it isn't my favourite brunette."

Stephanie closed over the pages and taking a mouthful of wine for courage slowly turned her head allowing herself to look at him. Paul's long blonde hair was pushed behind his left ear and his mouth was upturned in a smirk. That damn cocky smirk that immediately got her back up no matter how attractive she found it or no matter how damn much those butterflies fluttered. She sniffed as she tried her best to appear disinterested. "Okay, what bet did I lose?"

Paul almost spluttered on the mouthful of beer he had just swallowed at the mention of the word. "Bet? What bet?" he asked quickly.

He tried his best to compose himself ignoring the wave of guilt he felt wash over him. After all, there was no reason for him to feel guilty at all. The date had fallen through and with less than a week left, it looked like he had lost the damn wager anyway and would be handing over five hundred bucks to his annoyingly smug best friend. Because even if by some small miracle Stephanie did agree to that date with him, there was no chance in hell he would manage to get her in bed and win. Well not with the timescale he was supposed to be working to so it looked like he was screwed, only figuratively speaking of course although the idea of being with Stephanie was just as appealing to him with or without the money. He just knew that a woman as feisty as this one, had to be wild in the sack and he couldn't deny he wanted her in his own sadistic way and it was sadistic when he was living in danger of having his head ripped off each and every time he went ten feet near her yet for some reason he couldn't stay away. Yep, he was definitely fucking twisted.

"Why are you looking like that?" asked Stephanie.

"Looking like what?" he asked.

"I don't know. Sorta shifty."

"It's nerves" he lied as he wondered why the hell the woman had to be so damn observant anyway.

"Nerves?" Stephanie asked curiously leaning her elbow on her knee as she bent forward towards him. Her hair fell around her shoulders as her blue eyes looked at him. "Why the hell would you be nervous?"

"It's you, woman." he replied tipping his beer bottle in her direction. "You make me nervous."

"I do? Why?" she asked, her eyes widening in genuine surprise.

"Why?" he repeated chuckling lightly to himself. Paul's finger lifted to brush a loose strand of hair that had fallen across his eye. "Well maybe it's because any time I'm near you, I feel like you're about to rip my balls off and shove them straight down my throat."

"You know that does sound sorely tempting because not only would I have discovered a way to finally shut you up, but I would be doing the world a huge favour in the process by preventing you from procreating."

"You know I actually believe you mean that." said Paul, shaking his head slightly as his thick fingers reached up to loosen his tie even further. The corners of his lips trembled with his concealed smile.

"Well, stick around a little longer and you'll find out for sure." she smirked as she dangled her wine glass from her fingertips.

"You know to me that sounds like you're implying you actually want me to. Stick around that is."

Stephanie said nothing as she guided a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Hey, maybe you're even beginning to like me." grinned Paul as he took a sip from his beer. His brown eyes twinkled at her.

Stephanie quickly snorted as her hand smoothed a wrinkle in her skirt. "Don't be ridiculous." She tried to act non chalant as she shrugged her shoulders casually and inspected her fingernails. "If you want the honest truth, you're like a dog that I can't quite bring myself to kick."

She lifted her head as Paul's deep laughter echoed around the living room. She found herself smiling in spite of herself and tried to ignore the pang of disappointment she felt as he suddenly stood up from the sofa placing his bottle of beer down on the table as he checked his black and silver watch. His brow furrowed as a frown crossed his face.

"Shit. I'm late for a meeting. I gotta go. Sorry."

Stephanie nodded her head and smiled as he headed towards the door. She tried to ignore the pang of disappointment that she felt now he was leaving. She was clearly losing her mind. She'd been semi nice to him and she had enjoyed his company, fleeting as it was.

"Could you tell Jamie I'll catch him later?" he asked as he opened the blue painted door.

"Sure."

"Thanks." Paul lingered at the door for a second and as their eyes met, he smiled causing her heart to flip. "Maybe I'll catch you around sometime."

"Yeah, maybe." she smiled.

But as the door closed behind him, Stephanie's smile faded and her heart sank as her fingertips traced the rim of the glass. The room seemed cold and empty without him and on top of that, Paul had never even mentioned their date. He hadn't even tried asking her out again. He'd obviously decided to stop pursuing her after her harsh words on Friday and if she was honest, she felt gutted because she knew that if he had asked her out again, she would have probably said yes. Natasha had made her realise that being happy meant taking a risk. She would have somehow found the courage to take the chance with Paul. But unfortunately though, it looked like he had given up on her. It appeared she was far too late and she couldn't help but feel incredibly disappointed about that.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Remind me again why I let you drag me out tonight."

"For God sakes Steph, you're such a bloody misery guts lately." replied Natasha rolling her eyes as they walked along the busy waterfront street. A car horn honked in the distance as they sidestepped a group of teenage boys hanging around by the edge of the bridge and ignored the appreciative whistles thrown in their direction. The sun was just beginning to set casting the sky in an orange hue and there was a distinct chill in the late March air. Tugging on Stephanie's arm and pulling her in the direction of the blue neon sign, Natasha guided her across the street pausing for a second to let a cab rumble slowly past.

"We're young, we're beautiful, we've got the world at out feet and what are we doing about it?" she asked as they crossed the road. "Nothing! Nada! If I hadn't dragged you out tonight we would have been stuck at home like a couple of sad, lonely losers watching bloody Jerry Maguire for the millionth time and screaming "show me the money" at the television screen."

Stephanie tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and adjusted the strap of her beige leather bag on her shoulder. "For the record, that line is a classic and besides that, I like watching Jerry Maguire and I like being a sad, lonely loser."

Natasha threw her a look as she pulled her short red wool cardigan a little tighter around herself. "No you don't. You just like sitting at home wallowing around in your own misery."

"I'm not miserable." she protested.

"Oh, you are too but I've found something that will cheer you up." Natasha grinned as she stopped and pointed towards the window of the bar. "Ta-da!"

"What the hell is this?" asked Stephanie as her blue eyes widened and she glared at the poster on the large glass pane.

"It's a karaoke night at the Globe! Chris decided to give it a trial run."

"But you know I don't do karaoke."

"Yes but I didn't bring you here for the karaoke."

"Then what did you bring me here for?" she asked, her blue eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Natasha shrugged and tried to decide what her friend would do if she told her the truth right now. Probably turn right around and head straight back home knowing Stephanie. She really was so pig headed and stubborn at times. Was it any wonder she had to resort to these drastic measures to try and help the girl out a little especially when she was so determined not to do anything to help her own self. She just hoped Jamie had carried out his end of the bargain or there would be hell to pay when she saw him. He had been whining on about Paul having some awesome tickets to watch some baseball game tonight. She'd had to agree to do all his laundry for a month to try and win him round. She'd even succumbed to letting him play his damn guitar in the house. Even then she wasn't so sure she had succeeded especially when he mumbled on about not interfering and minding her own business but the thing was she wasn't interfering. She was just helping things along a little. The rate things were going, God knows someone had to.

"Tash, I asked you why you brought me here."

"I told you. I'm sick and tired of being a sad lonely loser. Come on." she said pulling her friend towards the double glass doors before she had a chance to change her mind.

Stephanie felt the warmth hit her cheeks as they made their way into the busy bar. They began to tingle in the dim lighting as she followed on behind Natasha smiling at a face she faintly recognised. She was relieved to hear the jukebox playing some up tempo song. It looked like the karaoke hadn't started yet although she could see some guy setting a screen up in the far corner. Her hand absently smoothed down her short denim skirt as Natasha pushed past a group of men in front of her to get to the bar. That was when her heart skipped a beat as she saw the familiar head of blonde hair standing at the right hand side of the bar. The long strands rested on the shoulders of his dark grey charcoal shirt and his back was more or less turned to her but she knew without a doubt it was Paul. She hadn't seen him since the day he'd helped Jamie move into the apartment. Since then, she'd tried her hardest not to think about him at all or feel the least bit disappointed that he seemed to have lost all interest in her. It was probably for the best anyway. Agreeing to a date would have been a monumental mistake or so she told herself not to mention the fact that he was extremely irritating. Stephanie swallowed thickly as she allowed her eyes to linger for just a second longer. He was talking to some guy she didn't recognise and he was obviously describing something using his hands. The neck of his bottle of beer was clutched between his thumb and his forefinger as he made some kind of box shape. Maybe it was work related. Not that she cared. She really didn't. She was just being observant that was all.

"What can I get you to drink?" smiled Natasha as she turned to face her.

Stephanie licked her lips as she forced her eyes away from him. "I'll have a vodka, no ice thanks." She cleared her throat and tried to be as casual as possible as she picked at a loose thread on her caramel coloured top. "I see Paul over there."

Natasha waved at the bartender to get his attention and cursed as he began to serve someone else. "Really?" she replied while silently thanking Jamie for carrying out his part of the deal.

"Is he with Jamie?"

Natasha shrugged her shoulders as she flicked back her blonde hair. "I'm not really sure. Jamie didn't really say what his plans were when he left tonight."

"Well, if it isn't my favourite sister!"

She jumped slightly at the sound of her brother's voice behind her and he slapped her affectionately across the shoulder.

"Speak of the devil." she muttered to herself.

"Get me a beer, Tash, will you? If I wait for Lev, I'll probably die of thirst."

Natasha rolled her eyes and placed her order with the bar tender who had finally decided to grace her with his presence.

"He's been talking shop with that guy for the last fifteen minutes." explained Jamie, smiling at Stephanie. "I was bored out of my mind. That's why I was so glad when I saw you both walk through that door. I had my excuse to leave them to it."

Jamie glanced over in Paul's direction and snickered.

"He'll be there for hours, too. Paul's far too polite to tell Ed to just fuck off."

"What are they talking about anyway?" asked Stephanie. She tried to tell herself she was only making small talk here. She wasn't really interested in their conversation or what Paul actually did for a living. Okay, maybe she had wondered a little but that was only mild curiosity. After all, the guy knew her occupation. He'd even been to her office for Christ sakes. She felt entitled to know some information about him. It was only fair after all.

"Well see, Ed's got a house over on the other side of town and there's some problem with subsidence or some crap like that." Jamie shifted his feet and turned to face her leaning his hip against the bar as he raked his fingers through his short dark hair. "You know, Paul told him from the start it was probably going to happen. The place was like a damn marsh before they built the houses there. He had surveyed the site beforehand see and he recommended that his company never touched it. They actually ended up building on the upper west side instead." Jamie paused and smiled. "Paul actually bought one of those houses for himself. Man, you should see it. It's got everything you could ask for including that kitchen sink." he chuckled as he felt the tap on his shoulder and thanked Natasha as she handed him her beer.

"So what kept you ladies, anyway?" he asked his sister. "I thought you said you would be here by eight."

Natasha deliberately didn't look at Stephanie while she tried to glare angrily at Jamie. Of course he didn't notice as he sipped at his beer. He was oblivious to his own stupidity, the dumb bastard!

"So you knew we were coming here?" asked Stephanie her manicured finger tapping against her glass as she watched him carefully.

Jamie swallowed his drink and nodded. That's when he saw Natasha's frosty stare and he scratched his chin awkwardly realising he had fucked up. He smiled sweetly at Stephanie wondering if there was any chance in hell he was getting out of this alive. Shit. Probably not! "Em, not really. Tash just sort of mentioned you might come along and join us."

"But when I asked Natasha, she didn't know what your plans were for tonight." she replied matter-of-factly.

"Really?" he squeaked out somehow.

"Nice one, Jamie."

"I don't believe this." snapped Stephanie and she banged her glass down on the cherry wood bar as it all began to click into place. She shook her head in disbelief. "Are you trying to set me up here?" she asked as her blue eyes glared between the two siblings.

"It was Tash's idea!" pointed Jamie.

"Traitor!" she snarled.

"How could you do this to me?" hissed Stephanie.

Natasha sighed heavily and pointed over in Paul's direction. "Well, were you going to do anything about him? Were you?"

Stephanie glanced away and stared into her glass.

"No. I didn't think so. That's why I took matters into my own hands."

"But I told you Tasha. I'm just not interested."

"Save it, Steph. You're not fooling anyone here and that includes yourself."

Jamie awkwardly cleared his throat as he slowly moved away from the bar. "I think I'll just leave you ladies to it."

"Coward!"

He smiled apologetically at Natasha as he quickly made his way back to Paul. Thankfully it looked like Ed was just leaving. Praise the fucking Lord! At least something was going his way tonight but God help him once he got home. Natasha was going to kill him but he could always tell her he told her so. He had told her not to interfere although deep down, he knew her heart was in the right place. Little did she realise that her attempt at playing Cupid could very well cost him five hundred bucks though. Not that the money was important in the grand scheme of things. It wasn't, not if it meant his friend finally finding some happiness. In fact, he suspected Paul's pursuit of Stephanie had stopped being about the money for quite a while now. He just wouldn't admit it to anyone or himself. In all respects, he was just as damn stubborn as Stephanie. The pair of them needed their heads knocked together.

"Where the hell did you disappear to?" asked Paul as Jamie appeared at the bar beside him.

"I went in pursuit of free beer my friend." grinned Jamie as he lifted up his drink and took a mouthful of the cold liquid. He decided to hold off telling him that Stephanie and Natasha were here. He wanted to give the Ice Queen time to cool off a little before Paul came across her. Plus he wasn't entirely sure how his friend would take the knowledge that he was part of a set up. He had grumbled enough about blowing off the baseball game tonight but he really had no choice when he couldn't find the tickets that were discreetly stuffed down the back of his sofa.

"What idiot fell for your lines this time?"

Jamie opened his mouth to reply but Paul held up his hand to silence him as he leant towards him resting his elbow on the bar.

"Don't look now but someone is in the process of checking you out as we speak."

"Where?" asked Jamie.

"The really scary lady. Table at nine o'clock."

Jamie tried to discreetly glance around the bar and his grey eyes went wide as he saw a middle aged woman looking his way. She had obviously been the victim of some hit and run at some plastic surgery clinic somewhere. He quickly glanced away and turned towards Paul.

"Jesus Christ! That woman has lips like a blowfish." He lifted his beer bottle and snickered as it hovered at his mouth. "And yet, she's strangely appealing to me."

Paul snorted in disgust. "You are one sick bastard, Riggs. She's old enough to be your fucking mother."

Jamie swallowed his drink and adjusted the collar of his red polo shirt as he discreetly watched Natasha and Stephanie smile at something. He felt his shoulders sag with relief as he placed his drink on the bar. "Yes but let me tell you about these mothers, Lev. Nine times out of ten, they're unsatisfied housewives usually gagging for it and willing to do just about anything to please you. You don't know what you're missing out on."

"And I'll keep it that way thank you very much." said Paul as he pushed his blonde hair behind his ear.

"Oh that's right. You prefer your women a bit younger and a little bit frostier. Tell me, how are things coming along with our favourite Ice Queen?"

Paul said nothing as he took a mouthful of his drink.

"You do know it's going to pain me to take that five hundred bucks away from you." grinned Jamie.

Paul shook his head as he smacked his lips together. "I don't hear no fat lady singing just yet which means you haven't won the bet my friend."

"Come on. You haven't even got her out on a date in the past four weeks. There's no way you're getting Stephanie into bed in what? The two days you have left? Face it Lev. You crashed and burned with that one just like I said you would." He shrugged as he shifted his feet on the patterned carpet. "Unless, of course, you wanted to up the stakes a little bit and buy yourself a bit more time into the bargain."

Paul raised his eyebrows fractionally. "What do you mean?"

"We could make it double or nothing."

"What? A thousand bucks?"

Jamie nodded as the music changed on the juke box. "And in return you get until the end of the month. What do you say?"

Paul absently picked at the peeling label on his bottle as he chewed on his lip thoughtfully. The truth was he was in his mind he'd given up on the whole Stephanie idea. Well, at least in terms of the bet. For some reason, he was developing a guilty conscience about the whole thing especially after Monday. Stephanie had been there at Natasha's apartment. She was her best friend for God sakes. How could she be just a notch on his bed post when their paths would probably cross on a regular basis especially with Jamie now settled back home and living with his sister. It just didn't feel right to him somehow. Then of course there was the fact that if Stephanie ever found out she would castrate him and feed his scraps to Natasha who would probably take great delight in finishing off the job.

"Or maybe the Ice Queen means much more to you than a wager."

"What? Don't be ridiculous." scoffed Paul as he finished off his beer.

"Are you sure?"

His brown eyes glared back at Jamie.

"So does that mean we've got a deal then?"

Paul ignored the uneasy feeling he'd suddenly developed in the pit of his stomach and nodded curtly. "It's a deal."

He turned and tried to catch the bar tender's attention. He needed another drink and fast because he had the feeling he was way in over his head with this one. When he felt the tap on his shoulder, he wasn't expecting to turn around and see the now familiar pretty blue eyes staring back at him as her hair fell in soft waves around her slender shoulders. He licked his lips feeling slightly stunned by Stephanie's presence as he inhaled her faint perfume.

"So tell me, are you in on all of this too?"

Paul's nose scrunched in confusion as he noticed Natasha pull Jamie off towards the juke box. "In on what exactly?" he asked.

"You. Me. Karaoke."

"What?" he sighed resting back against the bar stuffing his hands into his pockets. "You're going have to explain yourself a little better here because you lost me the second you opened your mouth."

"That figures. You've obviously got the attention span of a five year old."

Paul pressed his lips together in a sarcastic smile. "I can see you're just oozing with your usual charm tonight."

"Please. I've been dragged against my will to a karaoke night. I hate karaoke. In fact, it's safe to say I loathe it. Forgive me if I'm feeling a little pissed off right about now."

"You and me both, toots." Paul grimaced as a microphone fired into life and the guy on the small stage announced that the karaoke would be beginning in five minutes. He shook his head as he turned and rested his forearms on the bar. "And to think I'm missing out on the baseball game of the season to suffer through this crap."

"How come?" asked Stephanie.

"How come what?"

"How come you're here and not at the baseball game?"

Paul sighed heavily as he turned to her once more pushing back his hair from his forehead and Stephanie tried her best not to be mesmerised by the soft strands as they fell back around his face. "The truth is I lost the damn tickets but the really annoying part about it all is that I had my hands on them only yesterday. In fact, I even remember putting them back in the damn drawer where I kept them but when I went to get them tonight they weren't there. Fuck knows where they are."

Stephanie smirked to herself knowingly as she glanced across at Natasha and Jamie. She was sure she could hazard a couple of guesses.

"I can see my misfortune is amusing to you."

Stephanie had turned her head and was about to reply when she spotted the couple at the table next to the fruit machine. She felt a hot lump develop in her throat as she stared at them in total disbelief or more to the point him. Rob. She hadn't seen him since the night she had walked into his office and her world had ended or at least that's the way it had felt to her at the time. And now……well now she didn't know what the hell she felt. She was totally stunned by his presence, shocked even. Stephanie licked her dry lips as her fingers lightly gripped onto the strap of her leather bag.

"Stephanie, are you okay?"

She felt Paul's hand on her shoulder and his voice brought her out of her haze. She shook her head slightly to clear her mind as her blue eyes immediately searched for her friend. She felt the sudden urge to get the hell out of here. Seeing Rob after all that time had completely thrown her for a loop and she didn't like it at all, not one little bit. God, where the hell was Natasha?

"Steph?"

Stephanie swallowed hard and glanced at Paul. "I need to ask you a favour."

The left hand side of his mouth upturned into a lop-sided smile. "I'm sorry. Can you repeat that?"

"Why? You have problems with your hearing now?"

Paul's smile stretched across his face. "Oh I don't have a problem. I just wanted to make you say that again."

Stephanie shrugged off his hand feeling suddenly annoyed. "You know what? Just forget it."

Paul watched her literally barge her way through the people towards the exit. He sighed heavily and began to follow her wondering what the hell was wrong. Stephanie had been fine just a matter of seconds ago. They'd even been engaged in conversation that was bordering on civil, well that was before he'd gone and fucked it up. Apologising to a guy who he had accidentally knocked into, Paul saw Stephanie disappear through the double glass doors and quickly made his way outside to see her striding off down the street. His shoes scuffed against the tarmac as he jogged after her.

"Steph, wait!" he called out. His hand reached out and gripped her arm stopping her in her tracks. Her blue eyes narrowed in his direction and he smiled at her apologetically.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I was only messing with you."

Stephanie shrugged as her hair blew behind her in the wind. She was conscious of Paul's fingers wrapped around her arm and the way her body reacted to his touch. It was tingling all over although that was probably the cold air. Yes, that was definitely it.

"What was the favour you wanted to ask?"

"It was nothing." she sniffed.

"Well it had to be something otherwise you wouldn't have asked in the first place." he smiled as a car shot past them in the street.

"I just needed you to let Natasha know I was leaving, that was all."

Paul's brown eyes were confused. "But couldn't you have told her yourself? Why the sudden rush to go?"

"Maybe I just didn't like the company I was with." she sneered.

Paul's fingers slipped from her arm as he snorted in disbelief and shook his head. "Yeah well, you were the one that approached me. I never asked you to."

As he turned to walk away, Stephanie bit down on her lip instantly regretting her words. God knows it wasn't Paul's fault she was so defensive about her reason for leaving but what else could she say? Being truthful would mean letting her guard down around him. She couldn't let that happen. It would be dangerous not to mention stupid but still, he hadn't deserved that, not when he had been considerate enough to chase after her and apologise. Fuck, and now she was feeling guilty. What on earth was wrong with her lately? This was so much easier when she hated Paul although really, who was she kidding here? Not her best friend or even herself. She'd never hated Paul. Not really. She'd only told herself she had. She'd had to. It had been self preservation on her part in an attempt to lose those damn butterflies but even they had betrayed her and were still there only now they were stronger than ever. She'd never felt an attraction like this in her life before not even with Rob. God, even seeing him not just five minutes ago wasn't enough to stop her from feeling like this. It was like he was a distant memory and all she could think about was Paul. She had to be crazy and completely insane. What the hell was it about this man that made her want to scream at him at the top of her voice and rip his clothes off all in the same breath? It completely terrified her and yet she couldn't fight it. The truth was she wasn't even sure she wanted to. Not when the idea of letting him walk away and losing the chance to be with him was even scarier. Stephanie inhaled deeply and closed her eyes trusting that she was about to do the right thing because God knows there was no turning back for her now. Not any more.

"Paul!" she called out after him.

As her eyelids slowly opened, she saw him turn to face her. He was standing just a few feet away with his blonde strands tucked behind his ears and the street lights illuminating his handsome face. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his dark denim jeans. The corners of her mouth upturned gently as her brown boots shifted on the sidewalk.

"I didn't mean that. I'm sorry." she said.

She watched the flicker of amusement cross his face. His brown eyes twinkled as he pressed his lips together.

"Ask me to repeat that and I will rip your balls off and shove them down your throat."

His deep chuckle made her feel warm inside. "You know I actually believe you."

"You should." she smiled.

"Are you coming back inside?"

Stephanie slowly shook her head remembering that Rob was still in the bar. She wasn't sure how she felt about that one or how she would handle meeting him face to face after all this time if the situation arose. She'd been so angry and so resentful towards him for so long she wasn't sure how she would react and she hated that. She liked being and feeling in control at all times. But as Stephanie looked at Paul she realised she didn't have that control, at least not when it came to him.

"Well would you like me to walk you home? It's getting late."

Stephanie shook her head and bit down on her lip disguising her smile. "But you know when you're actually being nice and considerate like that, you make it so hard for me to hate you."

Paul smirked as he chomped on his gum. "It's all part of my charm toots."

"Yet other times, it's particularly easy." she glared.

"And all is right with the world once again." he chuckled as he lifted his left hand from his pocket and tucked his hair behind his ear. He watched Stephanie hail a cab that had pulled up just around the corner and slowed to a stop beside her. As she opened the door she placed one leg in and stopped to smile at Paul.

"Will you tell Tasha I've left?"

Paul smiled back and nodded.

"Enjoy the karaoke." she teased and lifted her hand in a wave. It wasn't until the cab had safely pulled away that she allowed herself to look back and her heart flipped in her chest as she saw Paul still standing there in the street watching her until she disappeared around the corner.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"What the hell?"

Jamie sat in disbelief as the music signalled the end of the game. His mouth was literally agape as the control pad dangled from his fingers. He looked down at it and shook it lightly like it was broken and was the reason why he had just crashed and burned but he knew it wasn't because the reason was sitting right next to him on the sofa. Jamie scowled as he turned towards his friend whose smug smirk made him instantly bristle with irritation. "I don't believe this! You killed me, Lev. You fucking killed me you son of a bitch!"

"What are you talking about?" scoffed Paul as he sat forward on the navy cloth sofa and his right hand gestured towards the silver widescreen television barely able to contain the smile on his face. "Your plane spun out of control and you smashed into the canyon. You killed yourself."

"Bullshit! You deliberately shot at me. I was beating your ass and you decided to take me out."

Paul snickered with amusement as his friend launched the pad to the floor, hearing it bump and skid across the polished wood. He raked his thick fingers through his blonde strands as he slowly shook his head. "You're one sore loser, Riggs."

Jamie turned and glowered at him. "Yeah well you're nothing but a cheating bastard!"  
He leant forward and grabbed his bottle of beer from the pine wood coffee table in front of him. He brought it to his lips draining the dregs before getting to his feet to make his way to the kitchen. His expression was smug as he glanced over at his friend. "And you can go and get your own fucking beer from the fridge because I ain't fetching it for you!"

Paul's shoulders shook with his deep laughter as he pushed up the sleeves of his white shirt and bent over to pick up the drink that was sitting at his feet. He heard a curse and the bang of the refrigerator. He shook his head in amusement. His friend was far too competitive for his own good sometimes. As he swallowed the cold liquid he heard the front door open and he turned his head to see Natasha walk through looking slightly flustered. Her manicured hand pushed back the loose strands of her blonde hair as she offered him a smile.

"Hey Tash!"

"Hey." she sighed as she quickly looked around the small living room unbuttoning her brown overcoat. "So where is he?"

"In the kitchen probably sulking." grinned Paul.

Natasha dryly rolled her eyes as she spotted the control pad lying in the middle of the floor. Jamie had obviously lost the game. Her brother played those stupid things like winning them was a matter of life or death. Paul was no better either. In fact the pair of them were every bit as bad as one another.

"Jamie!" she shouted throwing her bag and coat down on the large recliner chair.

Her brother emerged from the kitchen with a bottle of beer dangling between his fingers. "You know I'm pretty sure the neighbours can hear you across the street."

Natasha glowered at him as she placed her hands on her slender hips. Her brown eyes were narrowed in his direction. "Yeah well I don't care about the god damn neighbours. I care about my car. Where the hell is it?"

Jamie's face instantly fell and she groaned loudly as her hands fell to her sides.

"You forgot to pick it up from the shop, didn't you?"

Jamie grimaced and offered her a contrite smile. "Sorry."

"Jamie!"

"I'll pick it up first thing tomorrow, I promise." he assured her placing his hand on her shoulder. She immediately shrugged it off in annoyance.

"Yeah well a fat lot of good that will do me tonight!"

"Why? Where are you going tonight?" he asked as he took a sip of his beer.

"Well I was supposed to be picking Steph up from the airport."

Jamie quickly swallowed his beer and glanced at her apologetically. "Oops! Sorry."

"You said that already." sighed Natasha.

"Looks like you fucked up big time, my friend." grinned Paul who snorted with amusement as Jamie flipped him off. As he brought his own beer to his lips, he saw Natasha looking at him with a thoughtful look on her face. He brought the bottle away slowly as his brown eyes watched her suspiciously.  
"What?"

"How many of those have you had?"

"This is just the first."

"Yeah and it will be his last." Jamie piped up as he walked past Paul playfully nudging him with his shoulder. "Cheating bastard!"

"Yeah well you heard that saying payback is a bitch? You shouldn't have brought me down last game."

"Guys, never mind that." interrupted Natasha. Her pleading eyes were wide as they settled on Paul's face. "I have a huge favour to ask you."

He immediately realised what she was hinting towards and quickly shook his head as he absently rubbed his palm on his jeans. "Oh no, no, no! Forget it."

"Come on. It's just to the airport and back. You won't even be gone an hour."

"It's not the time that bothers me."

"Then what? It's not Steph is it?"

"He's scared of her." taunted Jamie as he sat down on the arm of the sofa.

Paul glared at him as he pushed a lock of hair behind his ear. "What the fuck are you talking about, man? I'm not scared."

"Then go and prove it. Go and pick the pretty lady up from the airport and maybe on the way home you can try and find that pair of balls you claim to have and ask her out on that date."

"And why would I want to do that?"

Jamie snorted with amusement. "Please! You're fooling no one here least of all yourself. I know for a fact you like this chick yet for some reason you're just too scared to make a move."

"Chick?" glared Natasha.

Jamie chuckled and held up his hand in defence. "Okay, okay. Lady. Broad, whatever you want to call her."

"And you wonder why you're currently unattached."

"Actually that's a personal choice, sis. I mean it wouldn't be fair to deny the ladies of Boston a perfect specimen like myself."

"You're so full of shit." chuckled Paul.

"Yeah well you just remember that clock is ticking Lev." teased Jamie.

"What do you mean? What clock?" asked Natasha narrowing her eyes in her brother's direction.

Paul immediately brought his beer to his lips as his brown eyes also glared at his friend. Why the hell did he never think before opening his damn mouth? If Natasha ever caught wind of their little wager, they were both dead. She was fiercely protective over Stephanie and made him question his own sanity for doubling the damn bet in the first place. The more he got involved with a certain Miss McMahon, the harder it was to see her as a simple conquest. They were obviously going to run into one another on a regular basis and things could get really awkward. He just wished he'd shelled out the five hundred bucks instead of letting his ego get in the way. For some reason he was feeling incredibly guilty about the whole thing. He sighed inwardly as Jamie flashed a smile at his sister pushing back his short dark strands. Shifting his feet underneath him, Paul prayed his friend somehow managed to weasel his way out of this one.

"Well, what I meant was that, well….see, time is really no man's friend." explained Jamie. "You got to make things happen. You've got to take control of your life." His left hand gestured towards Paul. "I mean, you know and I know he and Stephanie are hot for one another. They're just too damn stubborn to admit it or do anything about it."

Paul quickly shook his head as his fingers absently picked at the peeling corner of the label on his bottle. "Steph's not hot for me. The woman hates my damn guts."

Natasha placed her hand on his thick forearm stilling his movement. "That's not true. Steph doesn't hate you. She just wants you to think she does."

Paul's brown eyes were confused. "Why?"

"The same reasons you want her to think you're an arrogant womanising prick."

"But he is an arrogant womanising prick." grinned Jamie.

"Fuck you, Riggs." he scowled trying to conceal the flicker of amusement across his face.

"So what do you say, Paul! Please! Help me out here! Her plane lands at seven." whined Natasha tugging on his arm.

Paul looked at her and sighed heavily. "You're not going to really give me a choice now, are you?"

"Nope."

"Yeah well be warned. If she chews me out for being late, she'll be finding her own way home."

"Thanks Paul. I'll have some dinner warmed up for you getting back."

"What about me?"

Natasha smiled at her brother. "You can starve!"

Paul chuckled as he retrieved his leather coat from the back of the sofa and putting it on, he flicked his hair out over the collar before picking the car keys from the table. "I'll see you guys later."

As he walked out the door, Jamie's voice followed him into the corridor.  
"You'd better ask her out Paul or I'd damn well do it for you!"

Paul ignored him as he descended the narrow staircase checking the black faced watch on his wrist. It was fifteen minutes to seven. He'd be lucky to make it to the airport by quarter past. He could only imagine the reception he would get when he got there. Stephanie wasn't a lady to be kept waiting as he discovered to his detriment not so long ago. He sometimes wondered what would have happened if their date had gone ahead as planned that night. Part him felt it would have been a complete disaster. They could barely handle a civil conversation with one another let alone spend an entire evening together yet there was something about her that kept pulling him in. He wasn't scared to admit he was attracted to her but it wasn't just about her beauty or intelligence. He'd been around a lot of smart, beautiful women in his time but none of them were as feisty or as challenging as Stephanie and he liked that about her. In fact, the more time he spent with her, he found there was a lot he liked about her which was why this whole bet thing made him particularly uneasy.

Paul shook his head slightly as if to clear his mind and try to ease his conscience in the process. Jumping in the car, he switched on the engine and turned up the volume on the stereo drowning out his thoughts. Thankfully traffic was on his side and he was at the airport within twenty five minutes. He'd even managed to park pretty close to the terminal. As he weaved his way through the travelling crowds, he spotted her fairly quickly sitting in the waiting area inside. She was flicking through some papers in her hand and her small bag was at her feet. Her long legs were crossed hitching her red skirt up her thigh. Paul swallowed thickly allowing his eyes to linger there for a fraction of a second. It was long enough for Stephanie to look up and notice him standing there and her blue eyes narrowed curiously in his direction as he approached her.

"Well if it isn't my favourite brunette." he greeted her smiling softly.

Stephanie rested the papers in her lap and tried to ignore the hot flash in her chest at the sight of him standing there. Her body seemed to have developed the annoying habit of reacting to his presence making it hard to keep her cool around him. She cleared her throat in an attempt to compose herself before she trusted herself to speak. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

Paul lightly shrugged his shoulders as he stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets, his feet shifting on the worn floor underneath him. "Jamie forgot to pick up Natasha's car from the shop. I thought I would save you the torture of hitching a ride."

"It could be seemingly appealing right now."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that before I'm tempted to leave you stranded here."

The left corner of Stephanie's mouth slowly curved upwards. "In that case, I'd better get my things together before you change your mind."

"That's a wise decision." replied Paul, his brown eyes twinkling as Stephanie got to her feet. An announcement boomed from the overhead tannoy as he held out his hand to take her small black holdall. "Here. Let me take that for you."

Stephanie quickly shook her head as she placed her matching black wool coat over her arm. "It's okay. I can manage."

Paul rolled his eyes at her stubbornness. "Steph, give me the bag and at least let me appear to be a gentleman."

"Why? Are you trying to impress somebody or something?" she asked glancing around them.

"Yeah. You." he replied simply as he took the bag from her hand and began to walk to the double automatic doors.

Stephanie paused for a second before she followed on behind him. His response had surprised her and she debated inwardly whether he was feeding her another line or not. At times Paul appeared quite genuine. Then there were the times when he was the cocky arrogant asshole she first met. She just couldn't figure him out and it frustrated her to no end which was why her guard was constantly up around him. Still, she hadn't been able to stop thinking about him all weekend and kept picturing him standing there on the sidewalk watching her cab pull away. She just didn't know if it meant something or not. Did he really like her the same way she liked him? He was blowing hot and cold and she didn't know which way to turn. One minute Paul was sending her flowers and pursuing her relentlessly. The next he was cool and aloof and just at the time when she'd finally found that leap of faith to let him in. The whole situation was slowly driving her nuts. If she wasn't so petrified of rejection, she'd make the first move. At least she would find out one way or the other and put this whole thing to rest. She was sick of spending endless nights thinking about him.

Stephanie tucked a loose strand behind her ear as they approached the black Explorer.  
"This is me." said Paul.

Stephanie nodded recognising it as the car he'd been driving the first day she'd met him at the gas station. Even from that first moment, he had gotten under her skin in more ways than one.

"I just got it back yesterday. You know, after the accident on the freeway."

Stephanie glanced away briefly as he opened the passenger door and pressing her lips in a tight smile, she climbed inside. He closed the door behind her and she let out the breath she didn't even realise she had been holding. As she looked around the immaculate cashmere leather interior, she realised that Paul bringing up the accident had thrown her a little and she felt a pang of guilt. She could admit had been less than understanding about the whole situation. In fact, she'd even gone so far as to call him a bastard to his face. It was little wonder he had backed off that night and she had nobody to blame but herself. She smoothed down her skirt and clasped her hands in her lap as Paul got in the car. He switched on the engine and she jumped slightly startled as the music filled the car.

"Sorry." he smiled apologetically as he turned the volume down low. "I like my music loud."

"So I hear." she smirked as he pulled out of the parking space. She shifted her seat and turned her body slightly in his direction. She licked her lips tasting her strawberry lip balm as she inhaled the faint scent of his cologne. "So, can I trust you not to kill me in this thing?"

The butterflies flooded her chest as he glanced over at her with that amazing smile of his.

"Well, seeing as how killing you would involve me smashing up my $80,000 dollar car, I think there's every chance you'll make it unscathed."

Stephanie bit down on her lip to contain her grin. "Glad to hear it."

Paul turned the corner and they began to leave the airport terminal behind them.  
"So, where have you been on your travels?" he asked as he checked the rear view mirror before pulling out from the slip road.

"New York." replied Stephanie settling back in her seat. "I had to interview a couple of witnesses in a custody case I'm handling."

"You travel a lot on business?"

"Occasionally but the majority of the time I'm stuck in the office or in court."

Paul nodded briefly as his thick fingers tapped against the steering wheel and he pulled out into the opposite lane.

"So how come you drew the short stick then?"

Paul's brown eyes looked confused as he glanced at her. "What do you mean?"

"Picking me up and taking me home tonight. I think I can safely hazard a guess that you didn't exactly volunteer for the job."

His deep chuckle made her smile. "Not exactly, no." His fingers reached up to rake through his long blonde strands before returning to the steering wheel. "To be honest with you, the idea of being in an enclosed space with you for any length of time made me more than a little nervous."

"It did? Why?" asked Stephanie, surprised.

Paul snorted in disbelief. "You're kidding right? Steph, every time I'm within ten feet of you, I'm in danger of getting my head ripped off my shoulders."

"That's not true." she replied defensively.

"Oh I think it is."

"So why do this then? Why come and pick me up?"

"Well Tash didn't exactly give me a choice."

Stephanie said nothing looked towards the passenger window. Her arm rested against the cold, clear glass of the window as she tried to curb the disappointment that welled up inside her. It wasn't exactly the answer she was looking for yet it was exactly what she expected and in a way she had no one to blame but herself.

"That and well, because in some twisted way I actually enjoy it."

Stephanie turned her head to see Paul smiling at her.

"Your company, I mean."

He turned his attention back on the road and missed the twitch at the corner of her lips as she felt her earlier disappointment slowly slip away. She shifted in the seat as her blue eyes watched him suddenly filled with a little hope at his admission. She exhaled slowly as she decided to make an admission of her own. The fact that their conversation was actually somewhat civil gave her the encouragement she needed.

"You know I meant what I said the other night." she told him, softly.

Their eyes met for a brief second before Paul slowly turned away.

"There are times when you make it hard for me to hate you."

The corner of his eye crinkled with his smile. "So can I interpret that to mean that there are times you might actually like me?"

"I wouldn't push it if I were you."

"In that case I'll quit while I'm ahead."

"Smart idea!"

His deep laughter made her heart sing and as she rested her back against the seat Stephanie noticed with disappointment they were only a few miles from her home. She could see the exit looming on the right hand side. Suddenly she realised she didn't want the journey to end, not so soon. She wanted a little more time to try and see if she could figure out what was happening here. Things felt different between them somehow or maybe she was imagining it. Maybe she was just getting her own hopes up because the more time she spent in Paul's company, the more she knew she wanted to take a chance with him. She was so sick and tired of feeling lonely at night. Seeing Rob last week had only enforced that fact and made her face up to the truth. He had obviously moved on with his life. It was time for her to do the same and stop living in the past. Natasha had been right. Why should she give him the satisfaction of being miserable? Besides, the only person she was hurting was herself and she was determined not to do that. Not any more.

Jus as Paul signalled and turned off at her exit, Stephanie heard the muffled ringing. She realised it was coming from her bag and bent down to retrieve the phone. Natasha's name flashed up on the screen and she smiled as she answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me. I was just wondering if Paul got you safely."

"Yes he did." she smiled turning her head to look in his direction. He was trying to stifle a yawn as he looked at the road ahead. "In fact, I'm almost home."

"Good. Can you ask him a favour for me? I've ran out of milk. Can he pick up a carton from the store on his way here?"

"Sure. I'll ask him."

"Thanks. So, you two managing to get along?" asked Natasha.

"We are actually." replied Stephanie as she turned to the passenger window absently taking in the scenery as it passed her by.

"And you are being nice to Paul? You're not giving him a hard time or anything."

Stephanie chuckled lightly as she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "No, of course I'm not."

"Good because I know what you can get like around him. Listen, I'd better go. Jamie is loose in my kitchen and it's in danger of burning down. I'll call you later."

"Okay. Bye."

Stephanie closed over her phone and noticed they were pulling into her street. She sighed softly as she shifted in her seat turning towards Paul. "Tash asked if you could pick her up some milk on the way home."

"I think I can manage that." he replied as he pulled in by the kerb, parking the car. The engine idled as he turned in his seat, his brown eyes meeting hers as his fingers tapped on the steering wheel. "So you made it back in one piece."

"And what do you know? So did you." smiled Stephanie.

"Looks like we both made it unscathed then." chuckled Paul.

"Yeah so maybe next time I might not make you feel so nervous."

Paul shifted in his seat as he glanced briefly out the window. "Well, I'm not so sure about that." His fingers slid from the steering wheel and as his eyes fell on Stephanie once more, he saw she was watching him carefully. He offered her a smile and an explanation. "You seem to have the uncanny knack of making me feel that way any time I'm around you."

Stephanie swallowed thickly as she smoothed down her skirt, the corner of her lips trembling with her smile. "See now I'm sitting here wondering whether that's good a thing or not."

Paul licked his lips, his eyes scanning her pretty face. "Well that all depends."

"On what?"

"On you and whether you still think going out with me would be a huge mistake or not."

Stephanie watched him for a moment and seeing the sincere expression in his brown eyes, knew she had her answer and slowly shook her head, her chestnut strands shifting across her shoulders. "Maybe not so much a mistake, no." she replied softly.

"So does that mean you're going to let me take you out?"

"You still want to?"

"Yeah." Paul replied simply and paused for a second as his eyes glinted with his smile. "See, I told you I was twisted."

Stephanie bit down on her lip to contain her own grin. "And I must be having a lapse in sanity. Pick me up Saturday. Is seven thirty okay?"

"Seven thirty is great."

Stephanie wrapped her fingers around the small black holdall that was sitting at her feet.

"Want me to give you a hand with that?" asked Paul.

She shook her head. "It's okay. I'll be fine." Her hand rested on the door handle and let her eyes slowly drift to Paul once more. She licked her lips as her lips curved up gently. "Well thanks for the ride."

He winked at her. "Any time."

Stephanie got out of the car and began to close the passenger door before she stopped and her blue eyes stared at him, her hair blowing in the gentle breeze. "Oh and Paul, if you're even one minute late this time, I will kill you."

As door lightly clicked shut, Stephanie could hear his amused laughter and she walked down the path to her apartment block, the trace of her smile visible on her face.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Hello?"

"Are you there yet?"

"Natasha. What a surprise." replied Paul dryly rolling his eyes while his big hand held his cell phone to his ear as he climbed the narrow staircase, his boots scuffing against the concrete steps. A door slammed below him echoing up the stairwell. This was the third time Natasha had called him today. The first time had been early this morning during breakfast when she had wanted to casually remind him about his date with Stephanie tonight. The second had been a couple of hours ago when she had heard of some traffic works on the local radio station and had felt the need to suggest that he leave early to make it across town. He had found her concern quite amusing by all accounts and clearly Natasha was on some kind of mission to get him here tonight and on time but little did she know that her efforts just weren't necessary. He had absolutely no intention of screwing things up, not when he knew it was probably his last and final chance with Stephanie. That, and well he didn't fancy his luck against the two women who, in no uncertain terms, had threatened him with his life on more than one occasion.

"Please just tell me you are at Stephanie's apartment block or at least in the close vicinity."

Paul smiled as he walked along the brightly lit carpeted hallway, his brown eyes focused on the white painted door of number ten. "How close are we talking here?"

"Paul!"

His broad shoulders shook with his deep chuckle. "Calm down Tash. I'm standing outside her door as we speak."

Her audible sigh of relief crackled in his ear. "Good. That's good. I just wanted to make sure."

"You know I think you actually sound more nervous about this date than I do." he teased, raking his fingers through his soft blonde hair.

"I just don't want you fucking this up, Paul."

"Well there's not much chance of that with you calling me every five seconds reminding me of that fact now is there?"

"I'm just concerned that's all. Steph's been through a lot."

Paul's smile faded as he stopped just in front of the apartment door. "Yeah well she's not the only one."

Natasha sighed once more. "I know. I'm sorry."

As he rested his back against the wall shifting his feet on the coarse carpet, Paul quickly pushed aside any thoughts of Nicole. After all, he didn't miss her per say. He just missed the idea of her and their relationship. His house felt empty and lonely lately. They had been together for three years. He guessed he'd gotten used to sharing his life with someone, albeit the wrong someone.

"I was just worried that's all especially after what happened between you two the last time." explained Natasha.

"Well you don't have to be worried." he replied, his lips curving into a smile once more as he glanced towards the door to Stephanie's apartment. "I'm here and I'm on time and who knows? We may even make it to the end of the night without killing one another."

"Well that would be progress."

"It certainly would." he chuckled. "Anyway, I'd better announce my presence. I was told in no uncertain terms that if I wanted to live, I'd better not be late tonight."

Natasha's soft laughter carried down the line. "I can imagine. Well good luck."

"Thanks."

As Paul ended the call, he turned to the door exhaling slowly as he dropped his phone into the inside lined pocket of his brown leather coat. "I think I'm going to need it." he muttered to himself as he pressed his thumb gently against the door bell.

A few seconds later he could hear footsteps and the rattle of a chain and as the door opened, Stephanie's blue eyes went wide as she saw him standing there.

"Paul!" she breathed.

"Well if it isn't my favourite brunette." he teased. His cocky grin slowly spread across his face as he rested his shoulder against the door frame. "Okay, so prepare to tell me how impressed you really are….."

Her smile lingered on her lips at his almost proud expression. "Well, I do have to give you credit. It looks like you can use that watch on your wrist after all. Congratulations."

His throaty chuckle sent a tingling effect throughout her body. In fact, she was feeling a tiny bit breathless. Paul looked gorgeous in a shirt that hung loose over his faded denim jeans. It matched the colour of his incredible brown eyes making them appear a shade or two darker. His blonde hair fell softly around his handsome face and she could smell the faint scent of his cologne. Suddenly she felt a burst of nervous energy as she realised tonight was really going to happen. Well, once she stopped standing staring at him in the doorway. Clearing her throat, she tried her best to compose herself as she stepped aside to usher him in.

"Come on in. I just need to finish getting ready."

His large frame filled her narrow hallway and she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she guided him to the right.

"By the way, how did you get in here?" she asked curiously over her shoulder.

"Some guy was just leaving as I arrived."

Stephanie smiled as she gestured towards the bright, tidy sitting room, the smell of the vanilla pot pourri lingering in the air.

"Grab a seat. I won't be a second."

As Paul nodded in acknowledgment, Stephanie quickly dashed towards her bedroom grabbing the large silver hoop earrings that lay on her dresser. Pushing them through her holes in her lobes, she felt her stomach begin to flutter madly which served as a testament to how nervous she was about the whole thing. It had been a long time since she'd participated in anything even remotely resembling a date and all day she had been fretting about how to act or even what to wear. Five times she'd changed her outfit and had even experimented with her hair style. She had felt like she was fifteen all over again and going out with a boy for the very first time. The only thing was Paul wasn't a boy. He was a man in every sense of the word and a dangerous man as far as heart was concerned.

Shaking off that thought, Stephanie turned to the side to inspect her reflection in the tall gilt edged mirror. Her large blue eyes narrowed critically as her hands smoothed down the bottom hem of her flame print halter top skimming it over the thighs of her navy jeans. She released a slow breath trying her best to calm down as she quickly ran her fingers down her perfectly groomed strands.

"Just enjoy yourself, Steph." she hushed to the reflection staring back at her.

She hovered for a second before grabbing her red shoulder bag and making her way back to the sitting room. Paul stood up as she walked in and she bit down on her lip shyly as she stood by the edge of the small cream leather sofa.

"This is a nice place you've got here." he commented as his eyes settled on her.

"Thanks. I like it." she smiled.

"You lived here long?"

"It's been a couple of years now."

Paul sniffed and nodded as his finger scratched as his cheek, his lips curling into a brief smile. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Stephanie just how incredible she looked but he held back knowing the last time he had complimented her, she had bit his head off doubting his sincerity. In fact, she had accused him of trying to hit on her and everything else with breasts. And while tonight would be under a completely different set of circumstances, he didn't want to start off on the wrong foot. He was going to tread carefully and save the compliment for a later time. Paul cleared his throat breaking the small silence that had descended on the room. "So are you ready to go?" he asked.

Stephanie lifted her shoulder in a shrug as her eyes twinkled at him. "I guess that all depends on where you're taking me."

"Well I remembered the whole eating thing you have so I decided to stick to our original plan. You know the one we made before I….." He stopped and let out a slightly embarrassed chuckle as he pushed a chunk of hair behind his left ear. "Well before the accident with my car sort of fucked things up."

Stephanie licked her lips, tasting her lip gloss as she tried to suppress her smile. "So we're going to the movies?"

"Is that okay with you?" he asked, his brown eyes narrowing in her direction.

"I seem to remember it having some advantages, yeah."

A flicker of amusement crossed Paul's face. "I take it your referring to the whole not having to talk or look at me thing."

"Well, it was certainly appealing at the time."

"I'll bet it was."

Stephanie grinned leading him out into the hallway. The movie theatre was busy when they arrived and as Paul handed their tickets to the usher, she popped a handful of Gummi bears into her mouth. As she chewed she recognised some pop song playing lowly in the background. She couldn't remember the last time she had been at the cinema. It was probably years ago while she was still at law school. Rob had hated the movies and instead had subjected her to the boredom of theatre and opera giving her yet another reason for to loathe the guy, not that she wasn't going to waste another thought on him tonight. God knows, she'd wasted enough time dwelling over his sorry ass. Well not any more. She was moving onwards and upwards. Her date with Paul tonight was the start of her putting the past behind her. Smiling absently at the couple who stood up to let them pass, Stephanie took her seat in the centre of the row. As she placed her bag at her feet and her juice cup between her thighs, she turned her head to see Paul's smile of amusement.

"You sure you got enough sugar there now?"

She chuckled glancing down at three large bags resting in her lap. As well as the Gummi Bears, there were Hershey's Kisses and some maple nut candy too. Quite simply, her overwhelming hunger had affected her ability to select one particular type of confectionery and she wasn't sure how long she had stood there in the foyer trying to make her mind up. All she knew was that it had been long enough for Paul to mutter under his breath and grab all three thus ending her inward debate. "You do know you can never have too much sugar." she replied looking up and grinning at him.

"So I can see but maybe you can try and keep the bouncing off the walls to a minimum, okay?"

Stephanie shook her head in amusement as she offered him the bag of Gummi Bears. As he politely refused her offer, he began to remove his coat. He leaned towards her pulling out his arm. She felt her body lightly shiver as his shoulder brushed against her and her eyelids fluttered just a little as she breathed him in. It was the clean, fresh scent of his hair, his musky cologne, just everything. Honestly, how could one person smell so amazing? Swallowing thickly, she deliberately turned her head away and began to eat another handful of Gummi Bears. Anything to keep her mouth occupied and stave off any desire to place it anywhere near his neck. Her body seemed to have a few uncontrollable urges when it came to Paul, urges that she needed to keep firmly in check especially if she was going to make it through tonight.

Stephanie began to absently glance around her. Suddenly her blue eyes widened as she saw a familiar head of hair and she coughed as the chewy candy quickly lodged in her throat.

"What's up? Are you okay?" asked Paul, his brown eyes narrowing with concern.

She quickly nodded as she swallowed a couple of times loosening and swallowing the candy. Grabbing the soda she took a sip before licking her lips leaning towards Paul. "You know I think we're being spied on." she told him.

"What?!" exclaimed Paul turning in his chair.

Stephanie slapped his arm stalling his movement. "Don't make it obvious."

"Who is it?"

"Take a guess."

Paul's nose scrunched cutely as he frowned tucking a few loose blonde strands behind his ear. "I don't have a clue."

"Do the words interfering siblings ring any bells with you?"

His frown quickly turned into a scowl as he realised Stephanie was referring to Jamie and Natasha. "You're kidding me?"

"Nope."

"So where are they?"

"About ten rows back on the left."

Paul slowly shook his head curling his long fingers around the thin arm rest as he resisted the urge to glance back at them. "What a pair of sneaky bastards." He saw the middle aged lady in front of him turn in her seat at the sound of his cursing and glare at him. He smiled at her contritely. "Sorry."

"You know I knew Tash was up to something." continued Stephanie tapping her fingers thoughtfully against her chin. "She was being very shady when I talked to her earlier."

"She talked to you? She's been calling me all damn day."

"Why?"

Paul lifted his shoulder in a light shrug as his big hand pushed a hair from the corner of his eye. "I guess she was just worried I would fuck this up again."

He bit down on his lip trying not to laugh as the woman in front of him glared at him once more for his colourful language. He ignored her deliberately turning to Stephanie.

"So I have Natasha to thank for your time keeping?" she asked raising her brow.

"Oh no. I had every intention of making it on time tonight being that you had threatened to kill me and all." he smirked.

Stephanie's lips curved into a smile. "Oh that wasn't a threat. It was a promise."

Just then the lights dimmed and the screen lit up illuminating the small movie theatre. Stephanie bit down on her lip toying with an idea in her head. As she shifted in her seat, she wondered if Paul would go for it. She reckoned he probably would. After all, it would get one over on Natasha and Jamie. She couldn't believe they had followed them here. Then again, Tash did seem pretty desperate for this date to be a success. For some reason, she thought there was some sort of future between her and Paul. Future, nothing. She'd just be glad to make it through tonight unscathed although it seemed so far, so good. In fact, it was safe to say she was having a good time although she would have a better time if she wasn't aware that their every move was being watched. As if she wasn't nervous enough. Her mind made up, she leant towards Paul allowing herself to inhale him one more time before whispering softly.

"Do you fancy making a run for it?"

A slow grin crossed his face as he turned towards her. "But didn't you want to see this movie?"

"We can always come back another time."

As his beautiful brown eyes widened Stephanie caught herself realising what she had just said. Grateful for the dim lighting concealing her blushes, she quickly cleared her throat and corrected herself. Damn Paul. It was his fault that the words had tumbled from her mouth.

"Or, you know, I could always catch it another time."

"Of course."

His cocky smirk made her bristle with annoyance. Damn him again. "Look, are we doing this or not?" she snapped.

"Your wish is my command toots." winked Paul.

"I thought I told you not to call me that." she scowled as the advertisements began on the screen.

"But I can't help it. It irritates you and you look incredibly sexy when you're irritated."

"Is that why you're the bane of my existence?"

"Bane my ass."

"Sshhhhhhhhhhh!" spat the woman in front of them. Her threatening glance lingered for a second before she turned back round in her seat.

"Let's go." suggested Stephanie as she grabbed her belongings stuffing the bags of candy in her large shoulder bag. As Paul pulled on his coat, she deliberately leaned forward, her lips curving up tauntingly. "It's not like we have to stick around to see what happens. We already know it's the father who bumps off his daughter."

Paul rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the few annoyed glances thrown their way as they excused themselves to the end of the aisle. Grabbing Stephanie's hand, he guided her quickly through the dark theatre listening to her amused snorts behind him.

"Did you see that witch's face? If looks could kill…." she giggled.

As they walked into the brightly lit street, the gentle breeze blew through her chestnut hair and as they came to a stop on the kerb, she noticed Paul didn't let go of her hand. Instead he rubbed the back of her hand gently with his thumb as he glanced back in the direction of the cinema. She smiled to herself feeling a deliciously warm glow inside. Christ, she was acting like such a girl tonight.

"Well it looks like they didn't follow us." he said turning to her.

Stephanie grinned as she flicked her hair back over her shoulder.

"So now we're out here what do we actually do for the rest of the night?" he asked.

Her smile faded and her brow furrowed thoughtfully. "Good point."

"We could always go for a drink somewhere?" suggested Paul.

Stephanie lifted her shoulder in a light shrug. "Or we could just go somewhere quiet and talk."

"You mean you want to engage yourself in a conversation with me?"

Her blue eyes twinkled with her amusement. "I'm willing to take the risk."

Paul's shoulders shook with his deep chuckle. "So in that case, where do you suggest?"

She licked her lips tasting her shiny lip gloss. "I don't know. There's a spot halfway up the hill on the west side where you can practically see the whole city. I love going there. It's really peaceful and relaxing plus there would be no chance anyone would find us. If you like we could grab a few beers from the store and head up that way."

"Sure." he nodded and began to walk with her back to the car.

An hour later they were sitting on the hood listening to some rock ballad that was playing on the radio through the open windows. As Paul took a sip of his beer, his brown eyes twinkled in amusement at Stephanie as her nose crinkled in concentration and her fingers meticulously searched through the Big Mac in her hand.

"I don't know why the hell they put gherkins in these damn things. No one likes them anyway."

She cried almost triumphantly as she pulled one from the cheese, the sliced green vegetable dangling from her fingertips before she threw it into the brown paper bag sitting on her left hand side.

"Sure you don't want a bite?" she asked.

Paul shook his head as he bent his right leg up to his chest. His forearm hung over the knee cap as his long fingers gripped the stem of his beer bottle. "You know I've been thinking…."

Stephanie widened her eyes pretending to be impressed as she chewed on her hamburger.

Paul lightly chuckled. "An unbelievable thought, I know. But I was wondering….doesn't your need for a little trip through McDonald's drive-thru contradict your whole first date rule thing?"

Stephanie swallowed her food licking her lips. "You should know it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind."

He rolled his eyes as he took a mouthful of the cold liquid. His brown eyes settled on the colourful lights of the city as his fingers absently began to pick at the peeling label on the glass bottle.

"Well, that and the fact that…..oh, I don't know…..it just seems that lately, when it comes to you, I just seem to be in the habit of breaking the rules. Personal rules, I mean."

Paul turned to her, his interest piqued by her confession. A shy, embarrassed smile traced her lips. She'd only had three beers but they were certainly loosening her tongue. She sighed softly deciding to offer him an explanation.

"See, I swore to myself time and time again that I would never, under any circumstances, go out on a date with you."

Glancing down at her unfinished meal, she closed over the carton suddenly losing her appetite for the food. She had an appetite for something else, someone else and she realised that more than anything she wanted Paul. She had done probably since the night of Natasha's birthday party when he had whispered in her ear and the butterflies had exploded in a heated flurry across her chest. The butterflies that she felt each and every time she was near him, like now with him less than a foot anyway from her. Her body was tingling all over and it wasn't from the slight chill in the air. It was from Paul and his overwhelming presence. Of course, she had done everything in her power to deny it to herself but she wasn't going to any longer. She couldn't and more importantly, she wasn't going to deny it to Paul either. It was time for her to take a chance and be more upfront with her feelings. Maybe then tonight didn't have to end. Maybe then there could be the possibility of something more, something much, much more. It had been a long time since possibility had been an option for her. Clearing her throat, Stephanie tossed the carton in the paper bag. Picking up her beer, she allowed herself to look at Paul once more feeling his heated stare practically boring a hole right through her. Somehow she managed to find her voice to continue with the conversation. Her lips curved into a small smile.

"But yet, here I am on that date and not only that, I think I could actually be enjoying myself. I mean, who would have thought it. We've almost made it through the night and we've even managed to have a conversation definitely bordering on civil."

Paul's stare never wavered once as he tipped his bottle in her direction, his brown eyes sparkling at her. "Welcome to the twilight zone, Scully."

She laughed as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "You watched that show?"

Paul's nose wrinkled with his distaste. "Actually I thought it sucked."

"You did? Me too."

"Well what do you know? That's the second time we've agreed on something tonight." he smiled as he took a mouthful of his drink.

"Why? What was the first thing?"

He lifted his shoulder in a casual shrug. "You're not the only one who has enjoyed themselves tonight."

He looked almost shyly back towards the bright lights ahead. Stephanie felt her heart flip in her chest as she watched him. She could probably just sit and watch him all night. She wasn't surprised to find that he captivated her. The moonlight shining through the overhead branches danced across his face and it wasn't until she saw his surprised expression that she realised she had voiced her thoughts out loud.

"You really are a good looking guy you know."

Paul's brown eyes narrowed as he glanced at the bottle in her hand. "How many of those have you had McMahon?"

Despite her blushes, she shook her head suddenly wanting him to know she was sincere. Of course that was partly due to the lack of an arrogant comment on his part. Although there was still time for that yet. One hint of that cocky smirk and she was going to throttle him. After all, there was no way she could let him think she was turning soft on him. Biting down on her lip to contain her smile, she playfully batted at his arm.

"I'm actually being serious here, Paul. Accept the compliment before I take it back." she told him.

His words stuck in his throat thrown by her admission and the sincerity in her big blue eyes. He wasn't used to Stephanie giving him compliments. He was more used to the insults and the snide remarks. Still, that didn't mean he didn't like this unexpected twist in their conversation. He actually found he liked it quite a lot.

"Well then…..thank you. It's nice to hear."

"It's nice to say." she smiled and that smile got wider as she lightly nudged him with her shoulder. "It's actually surprisingly painless too."

Paul's lips curved upwards as he stretched his leg out on the black metallic hood. "Well not because I feel the need to return the compliment or anything but I've wanted to tell you all night that you, Miss McMahon, look incredibly hot tonight."

The heat rushed to Stephanie's cheeks and she quickly took a mouthful of beer.

"Of course I would have told you a hell of a lot sooner had I not been in fear of my life."

Stephanie swallowed her drink as she looked at him in disbelief. "Don't tell me I still make you nervous."

"Hey, we're out here all alone. Not a witness in sight. There's every chance you could still bump me off and bury me in the cold wet ground below us." replied Paul almost seriously apart from the mischievous twinkle in his eye that gave him away.

She pressed her lips together as she rolled her eyes.

"God, you're so dramatic."

"I like to call it cautious."

"Cautious. Dramatic. Whatever." she laughed as she shifted on the hood and lightly rubbed at her arm. The breeze was getting colder and she had small goose bumps on her arm. She was pleasantly surprised to see Paul reach behind him and place his discarded coat across her shoulders. It had that distinct leather smell as well as the faint masculine scent of Paul. Closing her eyes, she inhaled slowly, her lips upturned in appreciation. "Thank you." she whispered as she felt the warmth of the material encompass her.

"Yeah, well you seem to have a bad habit of leaving home without one. It's a wonder you haven't caught a chill. It might be the middle of April but it's still cold out. You need to take better care of yourself."

"Yes Dad." she smirked although inside she was touched by his concern. It was so sweet. In fact, that had been her first impression of him the night she had met him outside The Globe, an impression that had quickly changed during their encounter at the gas station and subsequent meetings. She had thought Paul to be arrogant, cocky and rude. A far cry from the man she was sitting beside. Suddenly Natasha's words about him made a lot of sense. Maybe his defences had been up around her somewhat. Maybe he didn't want to put himself out there only to set himself up to be hurt again. God knows that was an emotion she was familiar with too. Suddenly she and Paul had a lot more in common that she thought. Placing down her drink, her blue eyes settled on his, a hint of a smile tracing her lips.

"You know Natasha was right. You're not the egotistical jerk I thought you were." she admitted.

Again, it wasn't exactly something she had intended to say out loud but as per usual she lost all control around Paul. She always did and the words seemed to just slip past her lips. She saw a flicker of amusement cross his face as he rubbed his hand over his denim clad thigh.

"Well gee thanks……I think."

"Well come on. You have to admit you were pretty full of yourself."

"I was?" he asked trying to look surprised. As Stephanie looked at him incredulously, he realised he wasn't going to fool anyone, especially one Stephanie McMahon. "Okay I was." he conceded. "But you have to admit, you were no picnic yourself. In fact, most times you were downright disagreeable."

"I had just cause. Quite frankly you bugged me." she teased poking her tongue between her teeth before taking a mouthful of her beer.

"You mean you hated my guts."

Stephanie looked at him lifting her shoulder in a light shrug. "Or maybe I was just trying to pretend I did."

"Yeah? And why would you do that?"

"I don't know. I just thought that by telling myself and everyone else that I hated you that sooner or later I would come to believe it and it would be true."

The leaves in the trees rustled above them in the gentle breeze as Paul placed his beer down beside him and turned his upper body in her direction leaning on his left forearm towards her.

"And now?" he asked her.

"Well now I sort of realize that by lying, it only made me want you more." replied Stephanie swallowing thickly as his face moved closer to her, his warm breath lightly caressing her lips. God Paul was so close and she wanted him to kiss her. She needed it with everything inside her. Taking his face in her hands, she pulled impatiently him towards her. As their lips met, she felt herself melting as their mouths moved together exploring one another. Her heart was racing in her chest and for the first time in what seemed like forever, she felt so alive. With every kiss, she felt herself drawn closer to Paul. Moving her hands to his hair, her fingers tangled in the soft silky strands and she let out a soft moan as his tongue gently traced her bottom lip before brushing against hers. Her other hand slid around his waist feeling his firm, warm body underneath the cotton. She lost herself in his intoxicating kisses. When she finally drew away, she felt breathless and her mouth prickled with his wetness. Paul's brown eyes appeared gentle and tender as his fingers absently swept strands of hair across her forehead.

"So this is why you brought me up here, huh? You wanted to make out with me." He teased.

Stephanie rested her forehead against his and lightly brushed their noses together before murmuring into his mouth. "Shut up and just kiss me, Levesque."

The lights of the city flickered in tune with the stars as their eyes closed and their lips met again once more……


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Stephanie entered the small coffee house, the sharp aroma of the freshly ground beans hitting her almost immediately as she made her way towards the booth in the back corner. The machines hissed and gurgled behind the counter as she excused her way past an elderly couple standing waiting for a table. It was unusually busy for a Sunday morning which had ended up being very fortunate indeed for Natasha. It meant that there were simply far too many people around to witness her grabbing her friend and throttling her for following them last night.

Adjusting the strap of her brown leather bag on her shoulder, Stephanie snickered to herself but her smile quickly turned into a deliberate scowl as she saw her friend look up from the table in front of her. Biting down on her lip, she stifled her laughter at the sheepish expression on Natasha's face. The poor girl was obviously expecting to be read the riot act over her actions last night and really, it would be a shame to disappoint her. Dramatically narrowing her eyes to disapproving slits, Stephanie silently slid into the bench across from her sniffing almost haughtily as she placed her handbag down on the space next to her.

"Hey, Steph."

"You know, I don't know if I should even be talking to you never mind having coffee with you." said Stephanie, pressing her lips together as she placed her forearms on the red and white checked tablecloth, leaning forward in an almost intimidating manner. Her thumb absently flicked at a loose thread on the bottom cuff of her chocolate brown cardigan. "And don't even bother trying to deny anything. I saw you with Jamie in that movie theatre last night."

Natasha offered her a lop-sided, contrite smile. "Yeah well we kind of figured that out when the movie started and we saw you and Paul leaving."

"Well it was no more than you deserved. I can't believe you came along to spy on us like that."

"Come on now. I wouldn't call it spying, exactly."

Stephanie threw Natasha a look that clearly showed she disagreed with her as she pulled the small silver holder towards her, her slender fingers absently beginning to rearrange the untidy sachets of sugar into a neat row. "So what would you call it then?"

"I like to think of it as more along the lines of chaperoning you."

"Chaperoning me?" she snorted, shaking her head causing her freshly washed brown strands to shift across her shoulders. "How old do you think I am? Ten?"

Natasha let out an amused chuckle. "Well no, although there are times when I watch you and Paul together and suddenly I feel like I'm back in kindergarten all over again." she grinned.

Stephanie tried her best not to smile in reply as she pushed the perfectly stacked sachets of sugar back into the centre of the table. After all, she couldn't help but agree with her. There had been times when Paul would evoke completely child-like reactions from her, name calling and insults being the general theme during most of their conversations. He got under her skin in a way no one ever had before. He could be so irritating and annoying and then of course there was that cocky smirk of his. Half the time she wanted to smack it from his face, the other times...well needless to say those were the times when her reactions to him were anything but child-like. In fact, it was safe to say the impulses she had were the polar opposite of that. Like last night for example when she kissed him and he had stolen her breath away.

Feeling a rush of heat to her face, Stephanie immediately stamped out that memory as she cleared her throat and rested back against the padded red leather. She stretched her legs out under the table, the heels of her high heeled boots scuffing against the polished wooden floor. "Yeah well you crossed the line following us like that." she said.

Natasha sighed softly as she pushed her blonde hair back behind her shoulder. "Look, I know, okay? And I am sorry but hey, you can't be mad at us, really. Our intentions were nothing but good."

Stephanie's blue eyes narrowed in her direction once more. "And how do you figure that one out exactly?"

"Because Steph, we were worried about you."

"Worried?" she repeated, surprised as she briefly glanced in the direction of the table across from them where the elderly couple she passed were finally being seated.

"We decided it could go either way." explained Natasha smiling as she placed her hands on the table in front of her, sliding her fingers together. "You and Paul would either get along great last night or you would end up killing each other and being your friends, we knew we just couldn't risk the blood shed."

Stephanie couldn't help but laugh at that comment, her blue eyes twinkling with amusement. "Well you'll be pleased to know that no blood was spilled. In fact, we both made it through the date in one piece."

"I'm glad to hear it." grinned Natasha, her big chocolate brown eyes silently appraising her friend as Stephanie glanced out the large glass window. There was still a trace of her smile lingering on her lips, a smile that told her what she had already guessed. Not only had she and Paul made it through the date in one piece, but they had obviously had a good time in the process. That had been evident from the moment Stephanie had sat down at the table. See, she knew her far too well and the fact she hadn't launched straight into a tirade about what a bastard Paul was spoke volumes to her. Still, that didn't mean she was going to let her off lightly. Being her best friend meant she was entitled to at least form of interrogation. Licking her lips and settling back in her chair, Natasha lightly coughed. She smiled as she caught the brunette's attention once more. "So does this mean things went well with Paul?"

The left hand corner of Stephanie's mouth lifted shyly. "I guess you could say that, yeah."

"And I don't get any more details than that?"

She quickly shook her head. "No. Sorry. You don't deserve them."

"Not even over a coffee? I just ordered you a mug a minute ago. I even got a muffin to go with it."

Stephanie raised her brow, suddenly tempted. "Chocolate chip?"

"Of course."

"Hmmm." she replied, pretending to ponder over her answer as she pushed her soft chestnut strands behind her right ear. She pressed her lips together as she lifted her shoulder in a slight shrug. "Well, in that case, I think I can probably forgive you."

Natasha laughed as the waitress arrived placing down their order on the table. Stephanie smiled her thanks immediately reaching for the sachets of sugar and pulling out two.

"There's brown there too, you know."

Stephanie gave a snort of disgust as she shook the small white sachet before ripping it open and pouring it into her large mug of steaming black coffee. "I want real sugar, thanks." She added the second and lifted the silver tea spoon next to her. It was while she was stirring her hot drink that she caught the movement at the bottom of the street. Her brow wrinkled in surprise as she saw a familiar head of dark hair walking in their direction, a magazine rolled up and clutched in his hand, his face tilted towards the sun. She peered a little closer as she lifted her mug to her lips, the steam rising and hitting her face. "Is that Jamie over there?" she asked before taking a cautious sip.

Natasha glanced out briefly, quickly nodding her head. "Yeah."

"Is he joining us?"

"Oh no." she replied emphatically. Seeing Stephanie look at her somewhat curiously, Natasha smiled and shrugged casually. "At least I don't think so. I'm sure he mentioned something about hitting the gym this morning."

"Oh." she replied simply, her blue eyes lowering to her muffin missing the flicker of amusement that crossed Natasha's face.

"You know you sort of look a little disappointed there."

Stephanie looked up.

"Were you hoping he might be coming here? Or was it more the fact that if Jamie showed up, a certain friend of his might just show up too?"

Stephanie's blue eyes glowered at her as she flicked her hair back almost defiantly. "I don't know what you're trying to imply."

"Of course you don't. You're just blushing for the hell it."

"I'm not blushing."

"Yes you are."

"It's just hot in here, that's all."

As if to prove her point, Stephanie placed down her mug and began to remove her brown wool cardigan. She instantly felt the chill prickle her bare arms as she folded it over and placed it down next to her. Even the sun was against her, disappearing behind the thin blanket of cloud casting their table in a dark shadow.

"So you still haven't told me how things went last night."

She said nothing as she slid her fingers through the mug handle. The warmth instantly bathed the palm of her hand.

"And you'd better not hold back on any details either. It's been a while since I've got to grill you over a date."

"Well I could say the same thing about you." Stephanie retorted.

"Yes but we're not talking about me. We're talking about you so hurry up and tell me everything."

Stephanie lifted her shoulder in a shrug. "We had a nice time."

"Nice?" repeated Natasha, sounding more than a little outraged at her reply.

She just nodded her head chewing on the corner of her lip trying her best to contain the smile that she could feel tugging at her lips.

"I need better than nice, Steph. In fact I deserve better than nice. After all, if it wasn't for me interfering, you two might never have been on the date in the first place."

Stephanie grinned at her smugly. "It's good of you to finally admit that you do interfere."

Natasha wrinkled her nose up in response. "You know fine well it was only because I had to. The pair of you were being far too stubborn to do it of your own free will."

"Yeah well I'll probably have to give you that one." she admitted before taking a mouthful of her coffee.

"So, come on. Where did you go?"

Stephanie swallowed her drink and smiled. "Well, after we sneaked out of the movie theatre, we took a drive up to Cedar Point. We sat on the hood of his car, drank some beer and just talked really."

"You talked?" replied Natasha, her brown eyes widening into large ovals as she stared at her in obvious disbelief.

"Yes. What's wrong with talking?"

"Oh nothing." she replied as her finger traced the rim of her mug. "Absolutely nothing at all. I just don't know a lot of people who go to Cedar Point of an evening and "just talk"."

"I take it you are referring to your own experiences there?"

Natasha glared at her. "No I am not."

Stephanie smirked as her fingertips pinched off a piece of her muffin. "So you weren't talking about the time you went there with David Parker? You know that night where you gave him a hand job and he……"

"Hey, enough!"

She laughed as she popped the food into her mouth. She ignored Natasha's threatening stares from across the table as she chewed.

"I'm well aware of that time, thank you very much. I just don't care to relive it if it's all the same to you."

Stephanie swallowed and licked her lips. "God, he was so embarrassed. He couldn't even look you in the eye the next day at school."

"I think we'll just end this now, if you don't mind."

Stephanie chuckled into her white ceramic mug. "You ever see him around?"

"No I don't. And don't think for one second I don't remember how the subject of David Parker came about in the first place. You and Paul. I want details. Now spill it."

"There's nothing much to tell. We talked. We had a nice time. Paul drove me home."

"And that's it? There was no kissing, no hand holding, no romantic overtures?"

Stephanie settled back in her seat, glancing over at her a little coyly. "I guess maybe there was a little hand holding, yes."

"But there was no kissing?"

She pulled on her lip trying her best to stifle the grin that threatened to spill across her face. "I never said that."

"Stephanie!"

Her efforts were futile as her blue eyes sparkled and her face erupted with her smile.

"Okay, okay. We kissed. Are you happy now?"

"No! You should have shared this with me sooner!"

Stephanie chuckled as she played with the coffee mug in her hands.

"So come on, tell me. When did he kiss you?"

She rolled her lips together, suddenly feeling warm and more than a little tingly as she recalled her date with Paul. "Actually he didn't kiss me. I kissed him first." she admitted bashfully, her cheeks instantly flushing with heat. As she caught Natasha's surprised expression, she didn't know if it was her admission or the memory of the kiss that caused her to react this way. It was probably a mixture of them both. God knows she had turned into such a girl when it came to this man. Next thing she knew she'd be writing his name down on her files at work outlining it in a love heart. Only instead of the arrow through it, she would draw a dagger. It was definitely more fitting for their relationship.

"So you made the first move?" asked Natasha bringing her out of her daze.

Stephanie nodded her head. "It's totally crazy, huh? I mean for weeks I've been doing everything in my power to push him away. But last night sitting beside him, it was like my attraction to him just overwhelmed me. I had all these urges that I was able to keep in check until there was just this moment when Paul looked at me and suddenly I couldn't hold them back any longer. So I kissed him."

"And? What happened then? What did Paul say?"

She lifted her shoulder in a casual shrug. "Maybe that's a question you should ask him yourself."

"See, now I know what you're doing here." smiled Natasha, wagging her finger in her direction. "You just want me to ask his version of events so I can report back to you what he said.

"That's exactly it." replied Stephanie grinning as she flicked a crumb from her white vest top before bringing her coffee mug to her lips.

"But I still want to know one thing. Was he good in bed?"

Stephanie coughed and spluttered as she banged her mug down on the table.

Natasha's laughter filled the small coffee house. Unable to respond, she lifted her hand to wipe at the hot drink that dribbled down her chin. She could feel her eyes beginning to water, the wetness spilling over the corner of her lashes.

"Sorry but you know I had to ask."

Her coughing finally under control, Stephanie glared at her friend. "Well you can save your breath because nothing happened between us. Not that it's any of your business. It's called a private life for a reason, you know." As she glanced down, she let out an audible groan at the dark coffee stains staining her white top.

"Sorry." smiled Natasha apologetically as she handed her a paper napkin.

Stephanie snatched it from her hand and slid her way across the bench. "I'm going to the bathroom to try and do something with this. I'll be back in a minute."

Natasha nodded her head and watched her weave her way through the table to the opposite side of the room where she disappeared through the wooden panelled door.

She turned and reached into her bag, pulling out her cell phone. She was punching in the numbers when the voice from the side startled her.

"So, what is this? A case of he said, she said?"

She looked up to see Paul slide in the seat Stephanie had vacated just a moment ago. She swallowed her surprise as she stammered out a greeting. "Paul! Hey. How are you doin'?"

His brown eyes stared at her from across the table as he pushed Stephanie's half empty coffee mug to the side. His forearms rested on the tablecloth, his thick arms bulging out against the short sleeves of his white t-shirt as his blonde strands hung neatly over his broad shoulders. "You know, you really shouldn't send your brother to do your dirty work for you."

Natasha lifted her shoulder in a shrug. "What do you mean?"

Paul let out an amused chuckle as he shook his head. "Don't even try to act all innocent with me, Tash. I mean what are the odds that the morning after Stephanie and I go out on a date, you and Jamie invite us both out for coffee. Separately I might add which was very clever on your part up until the point where your brother leaves my cell phone at the table just over there."

As he gestured to a table down on the left, Natasha resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her brother's stupidity. God only knows he had a habit of dropping her right in it lately. A perfect example had just been ten minutes ago when he had paraded himself down the street in full view for Stephanie to spot him knowing fine well she would be sitting there. He obviously didn't know the meaning of the word discreet. He probably couldn't spell it either, the dumb bastard.

"And now I walk in here to see you sitting here not even half an hour later." Paul smiled and shook his head once more as he sat back in the seat, his fingers pushing his hair behind his left ear before he crossed his arms in front of him. "You know I really should have worked out what was happening the second he called me up in the first place. I mean I couldn't remember the last time he surfaced before noon and on a Sunday nonetheless which makes me wonder what the hell you had to bribe him with."

This time Natasha did roll her eyes. "God, you're such a cynic. And anyway, what makes you think that I'm here with Stephanie? I could be having coffee with anybody."

Paul raised his brow. "And this person just so happens to have the same wardrobe as her?"

"What do you mean?"

His head tilted to his right hand side. "That's her cardigan folded along the bench."

Natasha sniffed. "And how do you know what her cardigan looks like?"

"Maybe because I've seen her wearing it?" he smirked.

"Smart ass!"

Paul laughed and ducked as Natasha threw a crumpled up napkin in his direction. He retrieved it from the middle of his thighs and tossed it down on the table, his fingers lifting to scratch at the stubble on his chin. "Just admit it, Tash. You've been rumbled just like you were rumbled last night when Stephanie caught you sitting in the movie theatre."

Natasha sighed. "I wondered when you would bring that up. Steph's already given me the third degree over it, just so know you know."

"Well it's the least you deserve."

"She also told me that you guys had a nice time on your date."

"Oh she did, did she?" he smiled.

"Yes. Are you saying differently?"

Paul shook his head in amusement. "No I'm not and stop putting words in my mouth." he said, his brown eyes narrowing as he pretended to scowl at her.

"I wouldn't have to if you would just give me an answer."

"An answer about what?" he teased, the left corner of his mouth curving into a smirk.

"Paul!"

"Natasha!" he repeated, mocking her whining tone.

"God! You know you can be so juvenile."

"Yeah, well I'm surprised he even made it out of kindergarten."

Paul's shoulders shook with his deep chuckle, his brown eyes twinkling with the grin that had appeared the second he had heard her voice. "Hey Stephanie."

"Hey." she replied as she hovered by the edge of the table, a small nervous smile tugging at the corner of her lips. In fact her nerves had been shot the second she had walked out of the bathroom and noticed him sitting there in his jeans and t-shirt. She had felt a catch in her breath as something gripped at her chest, just like it was now with him grinning like that. But suddenly those nerves became disappointment as she watched Paul slide out of the booth and gesture for her to sit down. As she thanked him, she silently cursed him under her breath. He could stick his chivalry straight up his ass if he didn't even have the decency to stick around for a conversation with her. However, a few seconds later she was more than pleasantly surprised to feel Paul's shoulder unexpectedly brush against hers as he sat down beside her. The warm tingles she felt earlier returned in full force as she realised she had jumped to the completely wrong conclusion.

"So how are you doing?" he asked.

"Good." she replied nodding. "I think I've survived the interrogation. Well apart from the coffee stains I get to wear all day." she smiled as she pointedly stared over at Natasha who if she wasn't mistaken was taking way too much pleasure from watching them sitting together. An almost smug pleasure too.

"Or you know you could always just take the top off."

As Stephanie turned to glare at Paul for his suggestion, she noticed his gaze was lingering on her coffee stained breast, the cotton material still damp from the damage limitation she had tried to carry out with the soap and water in the bathroom. Shaking her head, she smacked his arm with his brown eyes having the audacity to look at her incredulously.

"What?! I was only making a suggestion."

"Yeah well you can make that suggestion to my face and not my breasts."

"Listen guys, I just spotted a friend from work over there." said Natasha interrupting and chuckling. "I'm going to go across and say hello, okay?"

They both nodded in response and a brief silence descended on the table for a moment before Paul shifted in the chair turning towards Stephanie. His smile was hidden in his warm brown gaze as he looked at her, raking his fingers through his hair. As she inhaled the spicy scent of his cologne, Stephanie realised she was struggling to breathe with him being in such close proximity.

"So, I was kind of hoping you had a nice time last night." he said.

Her lips curved up gently in response, her previous irritation immediately subsiding. Although if she was honest, she hadn't been all that irritated, not when part of her had actually liked the fact he had been looking at her in that way. In fact, she had liked it a lot. "I did." she replied. "You?"

"Eh, it was okay."

Stephanie's mouth parted in protest as she glared at Paul, slapping at his arm and hitting the solid muscle underneath. His deep laughter rang out causing a wild flutter across her chest.

"Come on. You know I did." His grin faded just a little as a hint of seriousness crept into his brown eyes. He rolled his lips together revealing just a little bit of hesitancy before he found the courage he had been searching for. "In fact, I was even thinking that maybe we should do it again some time."

Stephanie arched her brow a little dubiously but her smile couldn't be contained in her blue eyes. "What? Go out on another date?"

Paul nodded as he shifted in his seat, his gaze settling on hers.

"But wouldn't that be like tempting fate? I mean okay, we survived one night together but what's the odds we'd make it through a second?"

He grinned suddenly finding himself being drawn into her big blue pools. He couldn't help himself as he reached out to touch Stephanie's fingers as they rested on her thigh, his tips shyly brushing over them unwittingly sending a tiny shiver down her spine. "Hmm, I see what you mean.

"And personally I've never been very good with odds or even dates for that matter." she admitted, her smile suddenly trembling at the corners revealing her slight apprehension. Apprehension that quickly disappeared as Paul smiled at her.

"Well, maybe you should change that."

Holding his gaze, Stephanie's tone was laced with sarcasm. "And I should start by going on another date with you?"

"I can't think of anyone better, can you?" grinned Paul.

Stephanie lifted her shoulder in a shrug trying her hardest not to focus on his touch and how the gentle caress of his fingers made her pulse jump, sending a warm sensation shooting to the pit of her stomach. Her whole body was tingling like every part of her was aware of him right now. Actually, it was probably pathetic that just a simple touch made her complete putty in his hands. After all it hadn't been that long since she had been with a man although it was safe to say that no one had elicited such intense feelings in her before, feelings that she should really get a grip of before she got herself in trouble. But as she allowed herself to gaze into those endless brown orbs, she realised it was too late for that. She was already way in over her head and before she knew where she was, she heard herself agreeing to that second date. "I guess we could maybe catch that movie sometime. You know the one we didn't see last night."

"I would definitely be down with that." Paul's brown eyes glinted mischievously as his lips curved into a smirk. "Actually I'm down with a lot of things, if you know what I mean and I'm sure that you do."

Stephanie pretended to be disgusted as she shook off his touch suddenly grateful for the chance to breathe. "Yeah, well I'll just have to take your word for that." she retorted.

"Why? I'm more than happy to give you a personal demonstration."

She shook her head. "Just stop right there! I'm not getting into this with you."

"Getting into what?"

Stephanie glanced over at Natasha who had just arrived back at the table wearing an amused expression across her face. She rolled her eyes as she pretended to glare at Paul. "Trust me. You don't want to know."

"I take it I interrupted something?"

"You always do. But don't worry your pretty little head. I was just about to leave anyway." said Paul smiling at Natasha and failing to notice the flash of disappointment in Stephanie's eyes as he slid out of the booth.

"But you can't go."

"Why?"

"Because you haven't answered my question yet." grinned Natasha .

"Ask your brother." smirked Paul before glancing over at Stephanie. He smiled gently as he shifted his feet on the floor below him. "I'll call you?"

She nodded as he lifted his hand in a wave and left their table.

Natasha grinned as she called out after him. "You can run but you cannot hide, Levesque."

Stephanie could hear his deep laughter follow him towards the door. As she settled back in her seat, she saw Natasha's grin hadn't faltered in the least. In fact, her brown eyes were almost bubbling with her excitement. "So he's going to call you?"

She nodded. "We agreed we would try a second date."

As Natasha let out a delighted squeal at the news, Stephanie found herself grinning back. It had been the first time in a while that she had felt so happy and content to be caught up in a moment. For too long she'd tried to kid herself that men were just a complication she didn't need or want in her life. Then she met Paul and he had turned everything around on its head. The walls she'd built to protect herself had come tumbling down one by one and suddenly her heart was desperate to open up to him. God knows it had been a long time since she had let anyone get that close to her. She knew it would be a huge risk letting Paul in and taking the chance that she could get hurt all over again. But she knew it was a risk she was prepared to take even if she wasn't sure she could survive the odds. All she needed to do was to try and take this slowly and remember to breathe.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"God, I hate men!"

Natasha glanced up from her magazine as the front door clicked shut, her hazel eyes wide and slightly startled by her friend's sudden appearance in her home. She hadn't been expecting her and had been so absorbed in the article on the latest celebrity hook-ups that she hadn't even noticed Stephanie walking through the door. Then again, if she had actually knocked in the first place, it would have helped alert her to the fact that she was there. Arriving unannounced was becoming a regular habit and lately her apartment was beginning to feel like the centre focus of some syndicated sitcom.

Smiling to herself, Natasha tossed the magazine to the coffee table and patiently waited on the sofa for Stephanie to join her. At the moment she was pacing around, a sure sign she was pissed off although she had guessed that already from her welcoming statement and it didn't take a genius to figure out the target of her anger. There was only one man she knew of that could push Stephanie's buttons and evoke such a reaction from her.

"And you know that goes for every single one of them. They're scum. In fact, they're worse than scum." she stated, pushing back the loose strand that had escaped from her neatly pinned up twist. "They're like the festering little bits of mould in the scum. You know the bits I'm talking about, those disgusting little blue and green dots?"

Natasha's lips curved into an amused smirk. "I know the ones."

"Well I've come to the conclusion that's exactly what they are." said Stephanie throwing herself down beside her friend. She sighed heavily as the cream padded cushion fell into her lap and she fixed it stuffing it behind her as she stretched her long legs in front of her, smoothing down the knee length black pencil skirt she wore. As she settled back on the sofa, she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I take it he still hasn't called."

"Who hasn't called?" she retorted trying her best to act aloof while inside her body was a sea of emotions at the simple thought of him. Of course that was the way it had been for days now, the bastard.

"Paul."

"Paul who?"

Natasha rolled her eyes as she shifted in her seat, turning towards her friend as she tucked her leg underneath her. "I'll assume that's a no, then."

Stephanie's arms fell to her lap as she looked at Natasha, her blue eyes flashing with her hurt and her anger. "You're damn right it's a no. You know I'd like to know where the hell he gets off playing around with people like that."

"What do you mean?"

"_Let's go out on another date. I'll call you_." she said in a mocking tone, screwing her nose up in disgust. "Like he ever had any intention of doing such a thing. Although really, why am I surprised? I mean it's what I should have expected from a jerk like him. This whole thing has been like this huge game to him right from the very beginning what with the stalking then the stupid card in the flowers. Even that time in the gas station where he thought he was so fucking smart using my name and knowing fine well that I didn't have a clue who on earth he was. God, I could have wiped that smug grin of his right off his face right there and then."

"So I take it he's well and truly in the bad books."

"Oh no!" Stephanie said vehemently, shaking her head. "For that man to be in my bad books, I'd have to actually be thinking about him. I'd have to actually give him the time of day so trust me, he's not in any book of mine, good or bad. That's how completely non-existent Paul Levesque is to me."

"I believe you. Thousand's wouldn't though."

"Well it's the truth."

Natasha stopped herself from rolling her eyes once more as Stephanie sniffed almost haughtily. She wasn't fooling anyone, least of all herself. For someone who was non-existent, Paul had quite the effect on her. She just wondered why the hell he hadn't called her like he said he would. He wasn't a guy who was in the habit of screwing women around, at least not in her experience and she'd known Paul for a long time. Surely he had to realise he was blowing his chances with Stephanie because something like this would be the perfect excuse for her to back away from him big time. While Stephanie liked Paul and was undeniably attracted to him, she knew there was still that element of fear and mistrust lingering in the back of her friend's mind, the same fear and mistrust that could come quickly rushing to the forefront at any moment. She had been hurt badly in the past but then again she wasn't the only one. Paul had too. Maybe he was the one having second doubts about it all although she certainly didn't get that impression on Sunday. In fact, the pair of them had seemed completely smitten with one another sitting in that coffee house. It only proved what she had been already thinking for months. Paul and Stephanie were the perfect match and she would be damned if she was letting all her hard work go down the drain by letting either one of them screw this up. And really, it hadn't been that long since Paul had promised to call her. Sure Stephanie's hopes had been jaded a little but she had known guys to take weeks and eventually pick up the phone. Then again, they weren't the ones dating Stephanie. Her rules were obviously a little less tolerant. Still, she just had to try and get her friend to be a little more reasonable about this.

Natasha sighed softly and licked her lips, absently scratching at a sudden itch on her arm. "You know for the record, I know he probably has every intention of calling you at some point. I mean it's only been what? Four days?"

"Five actually."

"Well whatever. Maybe he was planning to call you over the weekend."

"Yeah well he can save the money on the phone call. I'm not interested any more."

This time Natasha did roll her eyes in disbelief. "Of course you're not."

Before Stephanie could protest, their conversation was interrupted by the sound of Jamie's voice drifting down the hallway accompanied by his heavy footsteps.

"Tash, have you seen my sweater? You know the blue one with the stripes down the arm?" He lifted his head and seeing they had company, he raised his hand in a wave. "Stephanie. Hey."

"Hey." she replied pressing her lips together in a tight smile as she crossed her left foot over the right. "Oh and by the way, you can tell your friend he is an asshole." she told him matter of factly.

Jamie's mouth parted in stunned silence, feeling a little thrown by her unexpected outburst and he blinked a few times before his shoulders shook with his snort of amusement. It looked like Lev had somehow ruffled the pretty lady's feathers yet again. He pitied him once the Ice Queen got hold of him because she looked like she was out for his blood. "Well, okay then. I'll be sure to pass that message on to him."

"Please do and while you're at it, tell him the next time he leers at my chest like some horny teenage delinquent, I'm going to smack him in the face."

Jamie's face was a mixture of amusement and astonishment as his sister grabbed his arm and guided him towards the kitchen. As she began raking in the dryer, he wandered across to the counter picking up a chocolate chip cookie lying freshly baked on the tray. As he examined the size of the chocolate chips, he leant his hip against the tall refrigerator. "What's the hell is the matter with Steph?" he enquired.

"Take a guess."

"Paul." he smiled glancing up to see his sister raking through a pile of clean washing sitting next to her.

Natasha nodded. "He didn't call her."

"Oh."

"Yes oh and being their friends, we now get to witness the fall out."

Jamie took a small bite of the cookie and his lips were pressed together thoughtfully as he chewed. "Yeah well not that I'm making excuses for him or anything but I do know for a fact that the guy has been swamped at work." He swallowed his food lifting in his shoulder in a shrug as he brushed a crumb from his grey cotton t-shirt. "I've hardly heard from him all week. The one time I did call him he told me that there's been a whole heap of problems with that new site they're working on down on Beech Avenue, you know the one the opposite side of the river?"

"You mean the one a couple of blocks from my office?"

Jamie nodded as he continued to nibble. "That's it. They're building twenty brand spanking new apartments. Paul showed me one of the blueprints a couple of weeks ago." He paused as he swallowed and shifting his feet underneath him, he smiled at his sister. "I was thinking of checking one out actually once they start building."

Natasha's brown eyes widened with surprise. "For real?"

"I don't see why not. I mean I can't depend on my baby sister to keep a roof over my head forever."

Her smile was tinged with a hint of sadness. "No I guess not."

"Anyway it won't be for months yet, maybe not even until the turn of the year." he told her. "They haven't even got approval for the land and there are some problems with getting access to the water pipes."

She nodded her head as he walked towards her holding out the piece of clothing. "Here you go. There's your sweater."

"Where would I be without you?" he said affectionately ruffling her blonde strands.

She pretended to glare at him in annoyance as she smoothed them back down. "Probably in some desperate woman's bed after discarding the same dirty clothes you'd been wearing for at least the last month."

"You know me far too well." he grinned as he wandered off in the direction of his bedroom, sweater in one hand and the cookie in the other.

Natasha paused for a moment before following him out of the kitchen, her mind a

little pre-occupied by Jamie's revelation. As much as her older sibling annoyed her at times, she was actually enjoying having him around the place despite his untidy clutter. He had spent the last five years abroad and they'd missed out on a lot of time together. By sharing an apartment, she felt she was getting a little piece of that time back. Of course there was every possibility that six months down the line she'd be more than happy to see the back of him.

Chuckling to herself at that thought, Natasha walked into the sitting room and almost jumped out of her skin when the front door suddenly opened and she practically collided with Paul. As he smiled at her apologetically tucking his blonde strands behind his ear, she shook her head ushering him inside. He was another unexpected house guest and a house guest who probably had no idea what he was about to walk into. His back was turned and he hadn't yet noticed Stephanie sitting on the sofa. She had noticed him though. That was evident from her scowl and the less than friendly glare in her big blue eyes. Secretly she would probably be thrilled to see him although there was no doubt that Paul was going to have to work hard to win her round.

"Is Jamie here?" he asked her, his thick fingers loosening the purple silk tie around his neck and freeing it from his black shirt collar.

"He's in the bedroom and by the way doesn't anyone actually think of knocking around here? I mean for all you know you could be interrupting something private here, something very private and very important."

Paul didn't even bother disguising his snort of disbelief. "Sure thing, Tash!"

"Pigs will fly when that happens."

He spun round on his heels at the sound of Stephanie's comment, his brown eyes wide with his surprise and a slow smile crept over his lips. After a crappy week all round, she was more than a welcome sight and he'd actually been thinking about her today after hearing a particular song on the radio. It was one that had been playing the night they'd been on their date and he remembered Stephanie sitting on the hood gently swaying to the music with a definite sexy smile on her face. In fact it was dwelling on that image that had distracted him long enough to almost miss the start of his eleven o'clock meeting and in his rush to get there he had decided that he was going to call her tonight and try and arrange something for the weekend. He was actually looking forward to spending some time with her however he got the distinct impression the feeling wasn't entirely mutual. His lips down turned into a confused frown as he realised his smile was unrequited and he was being deliberately ignored.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

Paul shook his head distractedly as he turned his attention back to Natasha. "Nothing."

"I never said a word." said Stephanie.

"You know maybe if I wasn't too busy trying to orchestrate my friends' love lives then maybe I would actually find the time to have one my own."

Stephanie flashed her friend a smile. "Shouldn't you replace the whole orchestrating thing with blatant interfering?"

"Well how's this for blatant interfering?" smirked Natasha, her brown eyes glinting wickedly before falling on Paul. "Stephanie thinks you're an asshole."

His brow instantly crinkled in annoyance as he glanced at Stephanie. She was currently examining her blouse obviously finding the design on the red material extremely fascinating.

"And before you even try to pretend you don't know the reason why, please explain to the girl why you haven't called her in the last five days. Oh and any excuse other than death or serious injury will not be accepted thank you very much."

Paul sighed wearily and lifted his big hand to rub at his temples. Now at least he knew the reason why he was getting the cold shoulder.

"Paul. Hey man, how's it going?"

His brown eyes suddenly narrowed as Jamie slapped him on the shoulder. Thoughts of Stephanie momentarily escaped his mind at the sight of his friend. He glowered at him as he remembered the reason why he had come here in the first place and reached into the back trouser pocket of his black trousers, waving the evidence in front of him.

"I found these tickets stuffed down the back of my sofa. Care to enlighten me as to how they got there?"

Jamie immediately turned to glare at his sister.

"What are you looking at me like that for? I never told him."

"And don't even bother bringing me into this." said Stephanie as she got up from the sofa and walked to the kitchen. "I'm going to make some coffee."

Paul was unable to help himself and watched the gentle sway of her hips until they disappeared through the doorway.

"Look, it's a long story….." said Jamie, grabbing his attention once more.

"Well in that case you'd better hurry up and start talking."

"But what does it matter anyway? It's not like we can go to the game."

"Yeah and that's no thanks to you. These tickets were front row seats man."

Jamie immediately gestured to his sister. "Hey if you want to blame anyone for that, you can blame Tash."

"Gee thanks Jamie!" she scowled placing her hands on her slender waist.

"Well it was your idea in the first place making us miss the baseball game of the season for some stupid karaoke night."

"So it's stupid, huh? Says the guy who got up on stage, twice may I add, giving his drunken version of Great Balls of Fire and that R.E.M. song? What was it again?"

"Losing my Religion. I'm telling you, I could have been Michael Stipe in another life."

"Only in your dreams. You killed that song."

"Hey, was that the night you slept with that woman?" asked Paul, pursing his lips thoughtfully. "You know the one that had the friend with lips like a blowfish, the one who was constantly staring at you?"

Jamie frowned. "Maria?"

"Was that her name?"

He lifted his shoulder in a shrug. "I'm not sure. I wasn't exactly interested in those particular credentials if you know what I mean."

"You're a fucking dog, you know that!" laughed Paul.

"Speaking of dogs." interrupted Natasha as she looked at him. "You are fully aware that you're in the dog house right about now."

His laughter faded and he gave a nervous chuckle as he replaced the discovered tickets in his back pocket. "Yeah well funnily enough the death glares thrown in my direction hadn't gone unnoticed."

"Well don't you think you should be in there doing something about it?"

"Yeah, Paul. Apologise to the pretty lady." grinned Jamie.

Paul's brown eyes went wide as he pointed in the general direction of the kitchen. "You mean actually going in there? The place where there are numerous sharp implements readily at Stephanie's disposal."

"She won't use them. Not if you make nice." said Natasha.

Paul cast her an extremely doubtful look. "But maybe now is not the best time to make nice with her."

"Paul!" she scolded.

"Okay, okay." he sighed pushing his hair back from his forehead as he backed away towards the kitchen. "I'm going but if you hear any disturbance, it will more than likely be me plunging to my death after being stabbed several times with your carving knife."

"God, you're so dramatic."

"How many times do I have to tell you all I'm not being dramatic, I'm just being cautious."

"Yeah, whatever. Quit stalling and get your ass in there Lev."

Paul nose screwed up with his scowl as he turned to open the door. He couldn't hear any movement inside. As he hesitated for a second letting out a slow breath, he felt the hands on his back pushing him from behind accompanied by amused laughter as he stumbled into the kitchen. He shook his head in annoyance and found himself face to face with Stephanie. Well, not face to face exactly. She'd quickly turned her back to him and she was looking out the small window over the sink, her arms wrapped around herself protectively. As he slowly approached her, his brow crinkled with worry, sure he'd just seen her fingers reach up and hurriedly wipe at her face.

"Stephanie?"

As his hand reached out to touch her shoulder, she abruptly moved away.

"Look, I'm fine okay?"

Paul heard her voice waiver with her emotion and his brown eyes filled with concern as she stopped in front of the counter placing her hand over her mouth trying to suppress the tears he saw threatening to slip over her long lashes.

"I'm fine." she eventually repeated but he wondered who she was trying to convince here. It was more than obvious that Stephanie was anything but fine and reaching for the roll of paper towel on the side of the counter, he felt a twinge of guilt. She was obviously upset over the fact he hadn't called but he hadn't pegged her for the weeping type. Quite honestly, he'd been expecting her to shout and scream abuse at him calling him all the bastards under the sun. He'd been prepared for that. He wasn't however prepared for this. Tugging a piece of paper towel from the roll, he handed it to her. She sniffed, avoiding his sympathetic gaze as she took it from his outstretched fingers.

"Of all the people to see me like this, it had to be you."

Paul sighed softly as he raked his fingers through his hair. The refrigerator hummed into life beside them. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't call."

Stephanie quickly shook her head as she dabbed the paper towel at the corner of her eyes. "This isn't about that."

"Then what is it about?"

Clearing her throat and blowing her nose, she tried to pull herself together. She felt angry with herself and couldn't believe she was crying in front of Paul. He probably thought she was an emotional basket case especially thinking she was reacting this way over a phone call or lack of it as the case may be. Little did he know she didn't actually give a damn, well not as much as he'd like to believe she did anyway. "It doesn't matter." she told him abruptly scrunching the paper towel in her hand.

"Of course it matters especially if it's making you upset like this."

As Paul pushed aside some laundry and sat down on the round table in front of her, she saw the worried frown hovering around the corner of his lips as he crossed his arms over his massive chest stretching his long legs out in front of him. The setting sunlight that filled the small room danced across his face and his brown eyes were watching her carefully. She couldn't mistake the fact that his concern seemed genuine and she sighed softly feeling her irritation at him slowly slip away.

"It's just work." Stephanie let out a shaky breath as she leant back against the counter crossing her legs over in front of her. She lifted her shoulder in a slight shrug. "I'm not sure if I ever mentioned to you the custody case I've been working on."

"Was that the one with the six year old boy?"

Stephanie nodded her head. "We had to interview him this week. The father is seeking sole custody of him and on Monday morning, right out of the blue he accused the mother of physical abuse, of harming her son. Of course she denied everything which meant the defence had no alternative but to question him and find out the truth." She sighed heavily rubbing at her temples wearily. "God, it's been so horrible sitting in that room watching some heartless bastard fire question after question at that little boy, not even giving a damn when the poor kid got upset. All that mattered to him was nailing the mother. You know I would go home and night and sit there picturing his innocent face, hearing his scared little voice and thinking how the hell a father could put him through that. I just couldn't get it out of my head no matter how hard I tried. I think that's why sometimes I would look at the phone and wonder if you would call like you said you would. I don't know. Maybe I thought it would be nice. Maybe I thought it would help take my mind off it all even for a moment or two."

She pressed her lips together briefly glancing at the linoleum on the floor, realising she'd revealed too much. She hadn't meant to admit to thinking about him. That had just slipped out. Then again, being around Paul words just seemed to tumble out her mouth. It was like she lost any semblance of self-control around him. Sometimes it scared her, other times it made her realise just how real her attraction to him was.

"Look I'm sorry, okay?"

She tilted her head upwards at the sound of his deep yet gentle voice. Paul was standing in front of her. His tie hung loosely around his neck and she could smell the clean, spicy scent of his cologne. As their eyes met she saw him smile apologetically, his hands reaching out to lightly grip her shoulders, their warmth working its way into her.

"I'm really sorry. I should have called you. Work's just been crazy the past few days for me too, you know. But still, it's no excuse and I am sorry."

"You said that already."

"Yeah I did and I'll keep saying it until you believe me."

Stephanie raised her brow. Deep down inside she knew that her lack of anger meant she'd already forgiven him, not that she had been that furious with him in the first place. Not like she'd made out anyway. Paul had just been a convenient outlet for every single frustration she'd felt this week. But outwardly she wasn't going to be so gracious to admit that. Besides Paul would expect nothing less than a hard time from her anyway and who was she to disappoint him. Rolling her lips together, she narrowed her blue eyes in his direction. "What? Like I believed you when you said you would call." she retorted.

Paul sighed. "Okay, point taken but to be fair, it's only been a few days."

"Five actually." she sniffed.

His lips twitched with his smile. "Okay five then."

"It's not funny Paul. You said you were going to call and you didn't."

He stepped back, pushing his hair behind his left ear. "Hey, I didn't know I had to work to some sort of time limit."

"You don't." she scowled crossing her arms over her chest. "But it is only manners to call someone when you say you will. I mean I'm sure could have found a free moment somewhere in that busy schedule of yours to pick up the phone."

Paul rolled his eyes and held his hands up in front of him, realising it was pointless to do anything else but surrender to her argument. "Okay, okay. You're right. I know you're right. Just let me find a way to make it up to you, please?"

Stephanie lifted her shoulder in a casual shrug trying her best to appear disinterested while all over her body was tingling at the simple thought of all the ways he could make it up to her.

"We could go to dinner or we could go and see that movie we never got the chance to see because of Yenta through there."

"I wouldn't bother. I'm actually perfectly content staying mad at you."

"Well that's a pity." he sighed as he stood in front of her once more, his brown eyes twinkling brightly as a slow smirk erupted across his face. "Although you do know you are incredibly sexy when you're mad."

Stephanie bit down on the inside of her lip in an attempt to conceal her smile unaware that the sparkle in her blue orbs betrayed her. "Do not even go there!" she warned him.

"Why? It's the truth."

"You know your lame attempt at sweet talking me is not going to work."

"It's not, huh?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

"Then maybe this might influence you?" he said before lowering his head and capturing her lips in a gentle kiss. Stephanie's eyes closed as she melted into him, her heart flipping wildly in her chest as his mouth tenderly moved over hers. Paul's lips were firm yet so soft and warm and she could feel his hands sliding across her waist pulling her closer as he pressed her up against the counter, her body exploding with a rush of heat at his touch. As his mouth parted wider deepening the kiss, she trailed her own hands up his thick arms, softly moaning as his tongue brushed over hers kissing her slowly and deeply literally stealing her breath away.

When they finally broke apart, Stephanie felt her knees lightly tremble as she licked her wet lips struggling to regain her composure. "You do know you're probably wasting your time here."

"Oh I don't think so." he murmured as his lips began to gently nuzzle her neck. Paul's warm delicious kisses drifted over the slender column of her throat, his tongue gently flicking over her smooth skin. Stephanie swallowed thickly as he made a trail along her jaw line, stopping at her mouth to drop a kiss there.

"So do you think I can convince you to come out with me Saturday?"

Her heavy lidded eyes were dark with her desire as they settled on his handsome face and she gave him the only response she could as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him once more.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Paul's arm rested on the open window frame while his fingers tapped impatiently against the leather steering wheel. He shifted in his seat and briefly glanced at the watch on his wrist. That was when he realised he hadn't been sitting here as long as he had thought but it was long enough that his right ass cheek was starting to feel a little numb. He could even feel a kink developing in his neck too but that was deliberately self inflicted and a small price to pay in order to avoid looking over to his left and seeing the two bodies still firmly entangled at the bottom of the path. He just wished Jamie would hurry up and finish saying goodnight to the lady so he could get the hell out of here. He had a beer sitting at home with his name written on it, a beer he had been particularly looking forward to all afternoon after problems at work had turned his day from bad to even worse.

Sighing softly, Paul's thick fingers reached for the stereo and he idly began scanning through the radio stations. He was searching for coverage of tonight's baseball game, the same game he had been planning on watching before Romeo over there had called and asked him for a ride home. Now he was sitting here like some fucking cab service making him wonder why the hell he had even answered the phone in the first place.  
But as the commentator's voice finally boomed through the speakers, Paul already knew the reason why. The truth was part of him had been hoping it would be someone else on the end of the line, that someone being a certain feisty brunette. Not that Stephanie had mentioned anything about calling him at any point during their date at the weekend. She hadn't and he didn't even know if she had his number anyway. He just knew that as each day passed, the urge to hear her voice or see her face grew that little bit stronger and the pathetic thing was it had only been a couple of days since he had last spent the evening with her. He wasn't sure what was happening to him. He didn't even know if he liked it either but somehow, someway Stephanie was beginning to monopolise his every thought and it certainly didn't help the situation when his mind wanted to constantly replay their make-out session in her doorway Saturday night.

Christ, even now he could still taste her kiss and the peach flavoured lip gloss she had worn. Stephanie's lips had been on his neck gently sucking on his skin when she had whispered against his ear her thinly veiled invitation for coffee. Her hushed voice had been thick with her desire and he had been more than willing to accept knowing coffee would be the last thing on the agenda. He had wanted Stephanie and he had wanted her badly. It had been a long six months being single and alone. They'd even made it to her hallway and her hand had crept inside his shirt, her fingers grazing and burning his skin when he'd felt that pang of guilt in his chest, the guilt that lately he just couldn't shake no matter how hard he tried. That's when he'd reluctantly stepped back breaking their heated embrace and tried to catch his breath. Stephanie's ocean blue pools had been filled with confusion and even disappointment as he had hastily made his excuses before kissing her cheek and whispering his goodnight. Little did she know he was even more disappointed than she appeared to have been to have walked out that door that night but his conscience just couldn't let things go further. Not just yet. Not with this stupid fucking bet hanging over his head.

Paul sighed again and lifted his hand as he lightly scratched at his beard. His male pride really had a lot to answer for never mind his giant ego. Quite honestly, when Jamie had suggested doubling the stakes, he should have walked away. He should never have agreed to extend the terms to another month but saying no would have just made things too damn complicated. Well, for him anyway because it would have meant admitting at that time that maybe, just maybe, he saw Stephanie as something more than a simple conquest and he hadn't been ready for that admission. Hell, even now he wasn't sure he was ready. Still, he knew he cared about her enough not to make her the terms of some silly college bet which was why as soon as Jamie unlocked his lips from his date, he was calling the whole thing off. He had to if he wanted things to continue with Stephanie. It was as simple as that.

Shifting uncomfortably in the leather seat, Paul stretched out his right leg. He realised his ass cheek was now completely numb and he was getting really sick and tired of waiting around. He had a good mind to leave them to it and let Jamie find his own way home despite him claiming not to have a dime to his name after spending the afternoon trying to impress his date in some expensive Italian restaurant down town. Exhaling slowly, Paul allowed himself to look over in the direction of the white terraced house he'd driven up to. Dryly, he rolled his brown eyes as the farewell appeared to be continuing in full swing. He was also dismayed to realise that he really needed to talk to Jamie about his technique. Even at a brief glance he could see that his friend was practically devouring the poor girl's face like some horny desperate teenager and it was most definitely not cool. Then again, the woman he was making out with seemed to be enjoying it.

Grimacing in disgust, Paul loudly cleared his throat in a vain attempt to break up the kiss. His brow furrowed as he glared at them through the open car window hoping they could sense how pissed off he was becoming. However, neither of them gave him a second glance as they continued with their sloppy embrace. That was when he scowled and decided he needed to take matters into his own hands. Paul hit his palm hard against the car horn. It beeped loudly startling them, forcing them apart from their clinch.

"Paul. Hey. I didn't see you there, man." said Jamie, licking his lips and raking his fingers through his short dark hair.

"That was obvious." he smirked as he turned down the volume on the radio. He squinted into the setting sun as his friend and his date walked towards the car. His fingers reached up to lightly knead the back of his neck.

"Let me introduce you guys. Paul, this is Vivien. Vivien, Paul."

Paul dropped his arm and took the slender hand that was offered to him. His initial thought was that the lady looked like some sort of call girl with her black leather skirt barely covering her ass and her overly bleached blonde hair that fell straight around her shoulders. She had a pretty face though and in fact, it looked even prettier when she smiled at him revealing her perfect set of white teeth.

"It's nice to meet you Paul."

"And you too." he replied politely.

"Call me." she pouted as she turned back to Jamie.

Paul rolled his eyes again as they began to kiss once more. He silently counted to five before muttering in frustration and hitting the horn once more.

"Sorry." he grinned as Jamie glared back at him. He noticed that Vivien at least had the decency to look a little embarrassed about it all. His broad shoulders shook with his silent chuckle as he watched his friend walk to the passenger door and climb in. They both waved at Vivien as he started up the car and pulled off down the street.

"Well my friend, I may have just found the promised land." Jamie grinned shifting in his seat and rubbing his hands together. "Vivien, she is a single mother and it makes me ask myself why the hell I didn't think of them before."

Paul glanced over at him wrinkling his nose in curiosity. "What are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about?!" repeated Jamie, his grey eyes wide and dramatic. "Lev, you have no idea. These single mothers are the ideal women for a guy like me, well as far as dating goes that is. You see they're not looking to get attached too quickly which makes them perfect and when it comes to sex they're desperate for it not to mention extremely eager to please as I found out for myself when I spent most of the afternoon in between the lady's sheets."

"You know something Riggs? You are totally unbelievable." replied Paul grinning and shaking his head.

"Ah but wait. There's even more. See, us men can do no absolutely wrong in their eyes. Well in comparison to the bastards that abandoned them with their kid in the first place, that is. We're like their version of angels. You know I was thinking that it's a pity that you and Stephanie have this thing going on. Vivien's got this friend……"

"Actually speaking of Stephanie, I need to talk to you." interrupted Paul as he reached across and turned off the stereo. He cleared his throat as he rubbed lightly at his nose.

"Don't tell me!" said Jamie, holding his right hand up as he turned in his seat to face his friend. He pushed the sleeves of his red sweater up his forearms. "You banged her so hard Saturday that the neighbours in the opposite block could hear her screaming your name and on more than one occasion if you get what I'm saying."

Paul glared at him before signalling to pull out of the junction. "Do you have to be so crass?"

"Crass? That wasn't crass. It was just a simple question, man."

"Yeah, well it's none of your goddamn business."

"On the contrary, my good friend." Jamie said, slapping him on the back as the car travelled over the bridge into town. "It is my business especially if you're expecting me to shell out that thousand bucks I owe you in a couple of weeks. Speaking of which, what are the chances of you accepting a written I.O.U.? Things are a little tight for me right now and then I've got Tash chewing my ear off about some heating bill that's got to be paid unless I want to freeze to death."

Paul quickly shook his head as he pushed his blonde strands behind his right ear. "Never mind the I.O.U. because I'm calling the whole thing off."

"What do you mean calling it off?"

"I mean exactly what it sounds like, okay? The bet is off. I can't do it anymore."

Jamie scratched his head as he looked over at his friend in confusion. "Why not? Don't tell me the Ice Queen won't give it up? You know I warned you from the start that this would happen. I told you she was frigid but you didn't listen to me."

"Look, it's got nothing to do with that." sighed Paul in frustration. "It's just over, okay? End of story." He rolled his lips together and refused to elaborate any further as he stared out of the windshield. Any admission about any kind of feelings of guilt on his part and it would sound like he was telling Jamie that he actually cared for Stephanie. And really, that couldn't be possible at all. How could it be? They'd only been out a couple of times together and besides, he knew hardly anything about her. There was no way he could have any real feelings for her. Not really.

Paul concentrated on the busy road following the blue Chrysler in front of him and didn't see the knowing smile that suddenly erupted across Jamie's face making his eyes crinkle up in the corners.

"See, now I think I get what all this is about."

"Get what?"

"You. You've finally realised that you actually might like this girl."

Paul said nothing as he tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. He was reluctant to analyse any sort of feelings he may have for one Stephanie McMahon. Still, he could admit he enjoyed her company. In fact, he would even go so far to say that he really looked forward to spending time with her. He would even admit his attraction to her wasn't purely physical either. Stephanie was smart and she was funny too. Her feisty nature made her completely different from any other woman he had dated before and that in itself held a definite attraction for him.

"Come on Lev." continued Jamie. "You can admit it to me. You've fallen for the Ice Queen which means Stephanie's no longer a chick you just want to fuck."

Paul glanced from the road to glare at him once more. "Would you watch your fucking mouth?"

"What? I'm just calling it like I see it and I'm right, aren't I? You're really into her."

Paul licked his lips and lifted his shoulder in a slightly embarrassed shrug. "I don't know, man."

"Yes you do. You're just scared to admit it to her and to yourself especially after being burned by that greedy gold digging bitch you lived with for years. But even you've got to see for yourself that Stephanie's nothing like Nicole."

Paul sighed with relief as he pushed his big hand through his hair. "Thank the fuck."

"Hey, watch that fuckin' language, will ya?"

"Shut the fuck up." he retorted. He turned to Jamie and both men looked at one another before bursting into laughter. Paul's shoulders still shook with his amusement as he turned left around the corner.

"But in all seriousness man, I think you're good for one another."

"Who is?"

Jamie shook his head and smiled at his friend's answer. "You know who I'm talking about. I'm talking about you and Stephanie."

Paul sniffed trying his best to be non-chalant when inside he couldn't deny the way his heart felt a little bit fuller just from the simple act of thinking about her. "Maybe." he conceded.

"There's no maybe about it and I can tell the girl is totally into you too although God only knows why." Jamie smirked as he shifted in his seat and leant his arm against the cool glass. "And you know, I have to say when I knew her in school, she was cold and pretty rude. I didn't really get why she and Tash were even friends but I've seen a whole different side to her since I moved back home. I don't know. She seems to have mellowed out or something especially since you got involved with her and I've gotten to be around her a little bit. Steph actually seems like a pretty cool person. You know Lev, you could do a lot worse than her."

Paul shrugged as he pulled into the street. "Yeah well we've only been on a couple of dates. Who knows if anything will happen there anyway." he replied casually.

"Well if it doesn't I could always introduce you to that friend of Vivien's I told you about. I think her name was Melissa or was it Melanie?" Jamie paused as his hand lifted to scratch at his head. "Shit! I can't even remember."

"Whoever she is, I'll try and bear her in mind." grinned Paul as he pulled outside the Riggs apartment. The engine idled as he turned in his seat and raked his fingers through his hair.

"You coming in?"

Paul pressed his lips together and a blonde strand fell across his eye as he shook his head. "Nah. I think I'm going to just hit the road."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I've got a bitch of a day tomorrow. I want to get home and chill out before I hit the sack.

Jamie nodded his head. "I hear ya. We still going to the gym?"

"Sure. I should be done by six."

"Cool. I'll give you a call."

Jamie's hand loosely gripped the door handle and he was about to pull on it when he spotted the familiar figure coming from the apartment block. He turned to Paul. "Well would you look at that?" he smiled watching his friend's expression visibly soften as he looked out the windshield to see Stephanie walking in their direction. "It seems like someone else is planning an early night too. Maybe you should go over there and offer to join her." winked Jamie.

Paul's big hand shot out to shove his arm. "Just get out of the fuckin' car, will ya?"

"Okay. I'll catch you later, man." Jamie laughed as he stepped out onto the street lifting his hand in a wave as he closed the door behind him. "Hey Stephanie."

"Hello Jamie." Stephanie replied pushing back the loose strands that blew in the breeze as she stood in front of him.

"You been visiting Tash?"

"Yeah but your mom just arrived so I thought I would leave them to it."

Jamie groaned and rubbed at his eye. "Jesus Christ! That's all I need. Two women nagging my face off all evening. Guess I'd better get my ass up there and get it over with."

"Have fun." Stephanie laughed as he disappeared up the pathway. Her pulse jumped when she then looked round to see Paul standing there just in front of her looking all kinds of beautiful in the shadows of the impending nightfall. It seemed that he hadn't found the time to get changed after work and was still dressed in his dark pinstriped suit with the grey shirt underneath slightly crumpled and open at the collar. His hands were stuffed in his trouser pockets and as her blue eyes settled on his, Stephanie wondered if he had been thinking about her anywhere near as much as she had been thinking about him.

"Hey." he said in his soft, deep tone.

She licked her lips before they curved up gently. "Hey."

"How are you doing?"

"I'm good." she replied twisting her fingers together in front of her. "You?"

"Good. I was just heading home actually."

"Me too. I've got a tonne of paperwork to get through before I'm up in court tomorrow morning."

Paul's brown eyes narrowed as he took a step forward. "Is that the custody case?"

Stephanie nodded as she shifted her feet scuffing her heels over the sidewalk. "We've got to present our closing arguments to the judge."

"Yeah, well just remember and take it easy, you hear? You make sure you a good night's rest and then go in that court room and kick some ass." he grinned.

She grinned back looking into his steady gaze and feeling a pull in her chest. "I will."

"Good."

A car rumbled past and the conversation fell silent as they both stood there just looking at one another. Stephanie felt her legs go weak and she was reluctant to make a move to say goodnight despite feeling a little embarrassed over her actions the last time they had been together. Paul had kissed her and before she knew it she had been practically inviting him into her bed. She hadn't been able to help herself. She had wanted him so much. It was the way he looked, the way he smelled even the way he had sounded when he said her name in that low, sexy voice of his. Even standing here now she could feel her desire for him burning in the pit of her stomach. She had honestly always thought she was deeper than some overwhelming physical attraction. But of course, deep down, she knew it wasn't only that. She couldn't explain it but there was just something about this man that made her lose it and forget all the rules. Paul was dangerous for her but of course that only made her want him even more. The problem was she wasn't sure he wanted her back especially after his actions on Saturday night. In all honesty, he couldn't have high tailed it out of her apartment fast enough which only served to make her more confused and just when she starting to open up to the possibility of them maybe having something together. Well, screw him. If Paul didn't want her, she'd be damned if she wanted him either. If he could play it cool, so could she and who cared if he never mentioned seeing her again.

Clearing her throat, Stephanie briefly glanced away trying to regain her composure. When she looked back up those incredible brown eyes were still focused on her and she felt the now familiar butterflies fluttering in her chest. Fuck. "So I should probably get going." she managed to eventually blurt out.

"Me too."

She nodded and placed her hands in the pockets of her long black overcoat. "Like I said I've got a stack full of work to do before I can call it a night."

"Yeah well remember what I told you and take it easy, okay?"

Stephanie swallowed thickly as Paul's hand reached out and his thumb tenderly caressed her chin lingering there for a moment. The simple action made her breath catch in her throat and she wondered if maybe there was the chance she had gotten this all wrong. Maybe Paul did like her. Maybe he did care about her even just a little bit. Saturday was probably all her fault anyway. She had obviously come on too strong and scared him away.

"So if you're not so busy towards the end of the week, perhaps I could give you a call?"

Or maybe she hadn't scared him off after all. "I'd like that." she told him smiling.

"In that case, I'll talk to you soon. Goodnight Steph."

"Goodnight."

Her eyelids fluttered shut as his lips softly kissed her forehead. When she finally opened them Paul was walking to his car and she realised soon just wasn't soon enough for her. "Paul?" she called out to him.

His blonde strands blew behind him in the breeze as he swung round to face her, his car keys dangling from his fingertip. Stephanie bit down on the corner of her mouth shyly.

"I'm actually free Wednesday. Maybe you could come over and I could cook you dinner or something."

His brown eyes looked at her, twinkling mischievously. "Sounds good but it really all depends."

"On what?" she asked.

"Well what are the chances of you trying to poison me in the process?" he grinned.

Stephanie licked her lips as her face faintly flickered with her amusement. "I'd say probably minimal to none."

"In that case, I'll see you Wednesday."

"Seven thirty okay?"

"Seven thirty is perfect."

"Then I guess I'll see you then."

"You can count on it." he winked.

Stephanie lingered on the sidewalk just a moment longer watching Paul as he climbed into his car. As the door clicked shut behind him, she finally turned away not wanting him to know she was looking and her mind already counting down the hours until Wednesday when she would see him again. Of course this time she would keep her emotions in check around him. She was going to be the epitome of cool in front of one Paul Levesque. She had to be even if it killed her and there was a very good chance that it probably would.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Stephanie smiled shyly as she invited Paul inside her apartment. She could feel her mood instantly lift as his huge presence filled her small hallway and relief slowly washed over her as she realised how glad she was to see him tonight. She had been so close to cancelling their date over the stupid head cold she'd woken up with this morning but now she thanked God she had the good sense not to call him after all. Now he was here she realised she really needed this. She was so looking forward to spending some time with Paul and no amount of aches and pains were going to ruin that and especially not with the way he looked in that open necked white shirt and blue jeans.

Leading him to the sitting room, Stephanie began to wonder how faded denim could look so good. Really, it was incredible the way the material hugged that perfect ass of his and she wasn't even going to start on how delicious he smelled either. His intoxicating citrus scent was following on behind her making her knees feel weak. Was it wrong that it was not even thirty seconds after she had opened her door to him and she wanted him? It looked like her original plans of playing it cool around him might be a little trickier than she had anticipated.

"You know I have to say you're looking particularly beautiful tonight." he said in a low sincere tone, surprising her and touching her at the same time.

Stephanie's mouth twitched with her smile and she bit down bashfully on the inside of her lip as she turned to him. His brown eyes slowly moved over her, appraising her expensive simple black dress and Stephanie felt the rush of heat through her body that followed the trail of his stare.

"I like you in a dress."

Paul grinned slowly and the grin crept upwards, making his eyes sparkle as he cocked his head playfully.

"But then again, I like you in anything. Or nothing at all. I'm not really that picky."

Her brow furrowed with her scowl and her lips parted to respond but her sarcastic retort stuck in the back of her throat as he moved closer to her. His proximity seemed to almost overwhelm her causing her stomach to flutter strangely.

"Although seeing you dressed like that, I'm starting to get a little worried that we've changed our plans and I'm dressed completely inappropriately."

Stephanie quickly shook her head suddenly starting to feel a little bit self conscious about the outfit she had chosen and being the fact this was Paul, she was also starting to feel a little bit defensive too. Of course there would be no chance in hell she would ever admit that she had spent the better part of two hours on her appearance either.

"I just feel like crap that's all." she told him lifting her shoulder in a shrug. "And hey, if you feel like crap you might as well look hot while you doing it."

Paul's lips curved into a slow appreciative smile. "Well mission accomplished."

"Really?" she asked, her lips trembling with her delighted smile.

Realising she was in serious danger of just melting in front of him, Stephanie cleared her throat and began to tuck her soft waves behind her ear determined to maintain her composure. After all she wasn't some silly teenage girl who fell apart the minute the object of her affection decided to throw her a compliment. Or at least she never used to be; well at least not before she had met Paul.

"Yeah, well just don't get too attached." she told him.

"I wouldn't dream of it." he grinned. But Paul's grin downturned into a frown as Stephanie began to cough. Her sore bark echoed in the living room as she covered her mouth with her hand and when the coughing finally subsided, her blue eyes were glazed and wet.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, his brow furrowed in concern.

Stephanie managed to nod her head as she cleared her throat but Paul wasn't convinced as he watched her carefully.

"Are you sure? Because in all seriousness here, if you're sick we can just do this another time. It's no big deal."

No big deal huh? Well it was a big deal to her. Didn't Paul know that since she'd woken up this morning she'd been downing medication like a mad woman and counting down the hours until she saw him? In fact she'd been counting since the second he'd agreed to this dinner. That was how lame and pathetic she had become and it was entirely his fault of course. Paul was the one standing there looking all kinds of beautiful and he was the one that had turned her into this huge walking hormone whenever she was around him. So if he thought he was going to escape before she had the chance to be completely alone with him for more than five minutes, he was very much mistaken.

"I'm not sick. I'm fine. Really." she replied trying her best to sound convincing. However within seconds she was coughing once more. Stephanie ducked her head covering her mouth as she tried to get it under control but her chest wheezed and her shoulders shook violently. It took her a few moments for the cough to subside and even then she was struggling to catch her breath.

"Well you don't sound so fine to me." stated Paul as his hand lifted to brush back a lock of her hair. His fingers lingered for a moment before dropping to rest on her shoulder and Stephanie could feel the gentle heat of his touch work its way into her. She let out a soft sigh and a calming breath.

"Are you sure you don't want to cancel?" he asked her.

She nodded. "I am sure unless of course you're the one trying to weasel your way out of being here tonight."

Her eyes narrowed at him suspiciously but any fear that Paul wanted to bail was quickly forgotten as he shook his head, his blonde strands shifting across his shoulders. His deep brown orbs twinkled back at her reassuringly as his mouth lifted in a heart shattering smile.

"See, there's not even a remote a chance of that happening."

"Good." Stephanie smiled back and licked her lips, breathing him in and suddenly needing him to kiss her. Not that she should even be thinking of a kiss. At least not this soon. After all she didn't want to appear desperate or anything even if her chest was fluttering at the simple thought of his mouth coming anywhere near hers. What were the chances they could skip dinner altogether and head straight to the making out. God, now she really was pathetic and in total danger of just throwing herself at him. What the hell happened to her playing it cool and acting collected?

Clearing her throat and finding her composure quickly, Stephanie gestured towards the cream leather sofa deciding that a little space was probably a good thing right now. At least until she could trust herself not to maul him.

"Why don't you sit down and I'll go check on dinner." she suggested.

"Sure." Paul nodded.

She stepped away and Stephanie swore she could feel his stare follow her into the kitchen. The skin on her back felt like it was burning and her hand lifted to her chest as if to silence the loud beat of her heart. But instead it was silenced by her alarmed cry as the door closed behind her and she witnessed the black smoke billowing from the top of the oven door. Right then and there she knew she was screwed. Damn it. Dinner was totally ruined.

Grabbing an oven glove from the counter Stephanie quickly opened the door and her eyes squinted as the hot steam hit her in the face. She blindly grabbed for the casserole dish and yanked it from the shelf, tossing it and the remnants of dinner on top of the black marble. Kicking the oven door shut, she cautiously removed the lid and began swatting at the dried and charred remains.

"Steph, are you okay in there?"

Paul's voice filtered through the doorway and Stephanie cringed as he walked into the kitchen. He'd obviously heard her cry of distress and his hand was absently raking through his hair as his eyes scoured the scene in front of him and within seconds she saw the corner of his lips twitch with his smile. She pretended to scowl as she pointed the oven glove at him menacingly.

"Laugh and I'll kill you."

"What?" Paul pleaded innocently as he pressed his lips together stifling his amusement.

"You know what."

"Do I?"

"Of course you do." Stephanie rolled her eyes dryly and removed the oven glove throwing it on the counter top. Her blue eyes lifted to glare at him once more. "You know I've burnt dinner and instead of saying something you're just going to stand there with that look on your face…"

Paul's brow lifted as he looked back at her innocently. "What look?"

"Just…never mind okay?"

Her defeated sigh echoed around the tiled walls of the kitchen and her hand rubbed over her face wearily. Maybe she should have cancelled after all. Tonight was quickly becoming a disaster even if her earlier headache had all but disappeared. And it was a disaster she could have easily avoided if she hadn't been so bloody adamant that she was going through with their date. But cancelling had never really been an option, not when she had wanted to spend time with Paul. In fact she needed to spend time with him if she was being honest with herself. Because maybe spending time with him, she could actually stop missing him. Because that was what he had done to her you see. He had turned her into this needy wreck, constantly thinking about him and wanting to be with him all the time.

"Hey, it doesn't look that bad." Paul commented as he wandered in the direction of the chicken and spotting a fork nearby, he lifted it and prodded at the overcooked meat. "I bet it doesn't taste bad either."

Stephanie shook her head and a grateful smile graced her lips. "You don't have to do this you know. You don't have to eat it. I'm not going to be offended or anything."

"Yeah well maybe I'm prepared to risk it." he replied as he slowly turned his head in Stephanie's direction. The mischievous grin that lit up his face made her heart suddenly catch in her chest. "See, Steph I've sort of gotten used to taking my life into my own hands where you're concerned."

"Ha ha. Very funny." she retorted as she pretended to scowl back at him.

But as Paul's grin spread across his face, Stephanie couldn't help her own giggle that escaped from the back of her throat and she quickly covered her mouth, trying her best to disguise it as a cough. The last thing she needed was to offer his lame lines any sort of encouragement even if deep down she did love Paul's awesome sense of humour. It was a big attraction for her, that and so many other things about him. Not that he needed to know that. Paul was cocky and arrogant enough at the best of times and besides, she wanted to keep him on his toes. Maybe she might even protect herself in the process too. Because she couldn't let Paul know the truth. She couldn't let him see he was opening her heart and in turn all the walls she had built over the years were now in serious danger of just crumbling apart in front of him.

"Come on. Let's get this served up before it gets cold."

Paul's deep voice lifted her from her thoughts and Stephanie nodded in agreement focusing all her energy into salvaging dinner. It had turned out edible after all with both their plates cleared after a couple of hours and the cheesecake desert she had served now sitting deliciously heavy in her stomach. Even their conversation had been lovely with Paul opening up to her and telling her about his job, his friends and his family. Even the way he spoke about his parents, she could tell they meant the world to him. It was obvious they were close to one another just like she was close to her family. And she found it really nice that they shared those same values. And really, who would have dreamt that they would have shared anything at all especially after their first meetings a couple of months back. God, she had been so naive to think she could have ignored those butterflies; the same butterflies that were now fluttering like crazy in her chest as she sat next to Paul on the sofa. Just being here with him close like this made her so happy. And she was happy. She knew that much. She also knew that she really wanted Paul. She wanted him more than she had ever wanted anything in her life before and while that was scary on a whole lot of levels, it was actually scarier to contemplate him not being around. Because despite the short period of time she had known him, Stephanie had become used to having him around. He was quickly becoming a part of her life and she liked it. In fact she liked it a lot.

Shifting her position on the sofa, Stephanie tried to be discreet as she shuffled a little closer to Paul. And as she absently wondered if he would ever kiss her tonight, she wasn't disappointed when his thick fingers wrapped deliciously around her arm and tugged her towards him.

"Come here, you." he smiled.

Paul's hands lifted to cup her face and his gaze lingered on her for a moment before his lips lightly caressed hers. Stephanie moaned softly into his mouth. She felt her body melt into him as he kissed her deeply. God, it was amazing. She'd never been kissed like this before. It felt so new and exciting but at the same time, there was something so familiar about it too. It was almost like she was meant to kiss Paul if that made sense and maybe it did because this just felt so right as did every other time his lips had touched hers. That was why she trusted it and why she knew she wasn't making a mistake letting a man get this close to her again.

Sliding her hands over his back, Stephanie felt Paul's tongue brush over hers. Her pulse jumped as he pressed her into the cushions and feeling his weight on top of her, Stephanie pulled him to her, needing him closer. Screw playing it cool. In fact all she could think about was being as close to Paul as possible. She wanted to feel his skin on hers. She wanted to taste every inch of him. God only knows how he would feel inside her. Surely it couldn't be wrong to want someone this badly even if they were still strangers in a lot of ways. Yet somehow there were moments where Paul was so familiar to her it was like she had known him forever.

When they eventually pulled back from the kiss, Stephanie's blue eyes met his as their laboured breathing filled the room. Paul was watching her as his hand ran lightly across her hip. He licked his wet lips. Stephanie wanted to read something in his stare. Desire, longing, anything. Just something to let her know that he wanted this every bit as much as she did. But there was nothing; at least nothing that gave her a certain answer. And while that unnerved her, for some reason she also found it extremely intriguing and sexy. In fact she found everything about this man sexy. He just had this alluring aura about him that attracted her and her whole body tingled with an excitement whenever she came within fifty feet of him. So was it any wonder that she was sitting here now so close she could feel his warmth breath dancing on her face and practically bursting with her need to have him kiss her again. And touch her too in the way she needed to be touched. Paul elicited such overwhelming feelings in her. Feelings that made her come alive and feelings that made her terribly bold too.

Swallowing thickly, Stephanie dipped her head. Her tongue flicked out licking the soft skin on his neck. Paul closed his eyes breathing her in. His thick fingers lifted to thread through her hair. It felt so soft, like fine strands of silk and smelled incredible too. Just like Stephanie. She was incredible. Christ, the way she was nibbling on his neck was totally killing him. It had been so long since he'd been with a woman that already he was hard as a rock. Or maybe that was just his reaction to her. Because he'd never wanted someone the way he wanted this woman. Not even Nicole. God knows she could never make him feel this way. It was almost like he was a desperate man struggling for air. Stephanie literally stole his breath away. She was so beautiful and captivating that he wondered how he could have ever entertained the possibility that he could be with her and then just simply walk away like she didn't matter. Because Stephanie did matter. She mattered a lot and probably more than he'd actually allow himself to admit right now.

Sighing softly into her hair, Paul gently lifted her head and eagerly sought out her mouth once more. Her soft moan was silenced by his tongue as it slid deliciously over hers. She tasted of mint and wine and Paul tilted his head deepening the kiss unable to get enough of her. His big hands roamed over slender back as their bodies pressed together. The truth was Stephanie was so much more than he had ever bargained for. His plans to get in her into his bed hadn't included letting her into his heart. But somehow she was creeping her way in despite everything and he was powerless to stop it. And he had tried. He honestly had but Stephanie McMahon was proving a tough habit for his heart to break. And he wasn't even sure he wanted to break it anyway. Why would he when he really liked her and not only that, he enjoyed spending time with her. He'd had a really good time tonight; a night that only was getting better by the minute.

In one swift movement Stephanie had straddled him lifting her dress and exposing the creamy flesh of her thighs. Allowing his hands to skim over her ass, Paul lightly growled into her mouth as her fingernails dipped underneath the hem of his shirt and scraped over his skin. The simple movement made his spine tingle with pleasure and he swore he almost burst as she deliberately rubbed herself against his crotch. Her hand began to creep lower, underneath his waist band while the other sought out his zipper. Paul swallowed thickly as his heart hammered in his chest and his hands instinctively froze, resting on the base of her back. He suddenly realised he needed to stop this. He just couldn't do this. Shit. What the fuck was the matter with him? Here he was, a beautiful, sexy woman on top of him and all he could think about was bailing and getting the hell out of here. Was he some kind of stupid freak? Stephanie wanted him for Christ sake and he wanted her. There was no question about that but there was a question over this damn guilty conscience of his. But why was he even feeling guilty? He'd severed the bet with Jamie. He had made sure what had happened last Saturday wouldn't happen again. But it was happening and he couldn't stop it. There was no way he could sleep with Stephanie now despite every part of him wanting to and that included the part that her hand was slowly travelling down towards. Ignoring the twitch in his pants, Paul gritted his teeth and silently cursed himself as he grabbed hold of Stephanie's wrist, reluctantly stilling her movement.

"We should probably slow this down a little bit." he said thickly into her mouth.

"Okay." Stephanie mumbled as she broke their embrace and pushed herself from his lap quickly smoothing her hands over her clothing.

Paul felt cold without her as he tried his best to find his composure. As he looked around the room, his eyes travelled everywhere except at the woman he had just disappointed. He couldn't look at Stephanie because he felt so fucking guilty about that stupid bet. He didn't have a clue why but all he could think was that it was almost like he was here with her under false pretences. But that couldn't be further from the truth because the truth was he had jumped at the invitation to spend time with her. He wanted to be with her every bit as much as Stephanie wanted to be with him. And he wasn't being arrogant in thinking in that way. He had felt the need in her touch and seen the flash of desire in her eyes. It was the same need and desire he had for her; the need and desire that wanted to take Stephanie to bed and show her what he was far too scared to tell her. That he was falling for her and he was falling for her hard.

"You know maybe we should call it a night. I'm not feeling so good after all." said Stephanie.

Paul turned his head and this time he did look at her. The hurt and rejection reflected in her big blue eyes killed him inside as he reluctantly got to his feet. He didn't want to go but really, how could he stay? Because if he stayed he'd have to find some way to explain his actions and how could he do that without admitting the truth? The truth that pursuing Stephanie had started out as some stupid conquest but yet actually getting to know her had become one of the smartest things he had done in his entire life.

"Well thanks for dinner." said Paul as he adjusted his shirt and raked his fingers through his hair. Stephanie was standing in front of him in her bare feet, her arms wrapped loosely around herself and in that moment he thought she had never looked so vulnerable or so beautiful.

"You're welcome." she replied offering him a tight smile.

"Maybe next time I can return the favour?" he offered. Paul's brown eyes watched her eagerly hoping Stephanie would get the message that he wanted to see her again. That hopefully he hadn't fucked this up and there would be a next time. There had to be. He didn't want this to be over. He knew that much.

"You're trying to tell me you actually can cook?"

His relieved smile beamed back at her retort. "Hey, there's no need to sound so surprised. There's no end to my talents you know."

Stephanie raised her brow in surprise. "I guess I'll have to take your word on that."

Her words sent a stab of guilt to his chest. Paul followed Stephanie to the door silently cursing himself for agreeing to that bet and cursing Jamie for suggesting it in the first place. His ego sure had a lot to answer for never mind his stupid pride.

"Look, I enjoyed tonight. I really did." he said as they approached the white painted door. As Stephanie turned to face him, his brown eyes went big as he tried his best to emphasise to her he was being completely sincere. He had enjoyed himself. But there was no mistaking the doubt that etched her beautiful face and he couldn't blame her for that. After all the saying was actions spoke louder than words and his actions must have spoken volumes. It's just a shame they told Stephanie completely the wrong story.

"You don't look like you believe me." he sighed softly.

"Well is it any wonder?" she asked as she stared at him, angry and confused. "You'll have to forgive me if I'm having a little trouble acquainting you enjoying yourself with you actually rejecting me."

"Steph, I didn't reject you." Paul told her as his hands reached for her shoulders but Stephanie shrugged him away as she snorted with her disbelief.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Really." he sighed once more, this time a little more heavily and despondently. His big hand lifted to tuck a lock of hair behind of his ear. " It's just….."

He paused for a moment taking care to find the right words to make her understand and more importantly, not screw this up. Stephanie meant far too much now for him to even think of giving her up.

"Look, I just want to take this slow, okay? I mean there's nothing wrong with that is there? Because I like you Stephanie. I really do and I want to take the time to get to know you properly. I don't want anything to spoil anything by rushing things between us. I've made that mistake before and I don't want to make that same mistake with you. You mean too much to me."

There was no mistaking the delighted glint that flickered in her ocean blue pools and Paul felt a wave of relief wash through his body as Stephanie playfully nudged him with her hip.

"Yeah well you mean a lot to me too. Well most of the time anyway." she teased.

"Hey I'll settle for that." he grinned and this time when he reached to touch her hair, she didn't flinch away. Instead Stephanie leaned into his touch as his fingers ran through the soft brown strands before gently resting on her face.

"Thanks for tonight." he hushed as his thumb lightly stroked her cheek.

"You said that already."

"Well there's no harm in saying it again now is there especially when I'm going to remember that chicken for the rest of my life."

His shoulders shook with his amused chuckle as he dropped a kiss on her hair.

"Get out of here." Stephanie grinned as she reached for the handle and opened the door. She didn't want Paul to leave but he had to or she was in danger of losing her dignity all over again and asking him to stay. God knows she wanted him to. But Paul wanted to take this slow and she respected that especially if it meant there was a chance he might possibly be serious about them and about her. Because she wanted a shot at a relationship with him. She wasn't going to be stupid enough to think that she could even think about settling for anything less, not with the way she knew she felt about Paul and the way she hoped he might feel for her.

"Take care Steph and get some rest, okay?" he told her as he stepped out into the landing.

"Okay."

"And maybe I could call you tomorrow? See how you are?"

As his big hand lifted to brush through her hair once more, Stephanie bit down on her lip in an attempt to disguise her smile. "Maybe."

She could feel the smile that traced his lips as he kissed her softly and sweetly.

"Goodnight, Steph."

"Goodnight." she whispered as her fingertips lifted to touch her lips where she could still feel him even moments after he had left.


	16. Chapter 16

I apologise in advance if this sucks in any way. The problem with leaving stories too long is you sort of disconnect with the characters and it makes it so much harder to write about them. So that just means I have to post the next chapter sooner before you forget about the story altogether lol. But thanks so much to those who've stuck with me and continue to review my stories. It means a lot and definitely helps motivate us writers to write. Hope you enjoy the chapter :)

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Chapter 16

The elevator chimed its arrival as the metal doors slid open. Paul stepped out and briefly checking his watch, he headed in the direction of the reception area. He smiled at the petite woman behind the desk placing his hands on the laminated wood, his long fingers spread apart as he leant towards her.

"Good evening…"

There was a beat as his brown eyes quickly scanned the brass name plate sitting just in front of him.

"Eve. I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of Stephanie's office. Stephanie McMahon."

"And you would be?" the woman asked him inquisitively as she peered at him over the gold rim of her spectacles.

"Paul. Paul Levesque. Stephanie is expecting me."

"So you're THE Paul, huh?" Eve beamed, her face lighting in recognition.

Her eager response took him by surprise and Paul's brow furrowed awkwardly. "Well, I'm not sure. I guess that all depends on how many Pauls you have frequenting this place."

"Not many and none of them as mighty fine as you, that's for damn sure."

Paul's mouth parted as he stared at the middle aged lady in front of him feeling more than stunned at her obvious flirtatious tone. "Um, okay." he said, straightening up and subconsciously backing away from the desk. To say he was a little freaked out right now would be an understatement. The woman was bold as brass and practically the same age as his mother and he could feel his stomach churn nauseously at that thought.

"Well wonders will never cease."

Stephanie's voice behind him got his attention and he turned his head to look at her. Paul could feel his breath catch in his throat as he caught sight of her. Every time he saw Stephanie, he swore she was even more gorgeous than the last. Even her pinned up twist and those dark rimmed glasses perched on the end of her nose made her look sexy as hell.

"You know I think that's the first time I've seen you at a complete loss for words." she smirked.

But Paul was unable to return her humour and his brown eyes were still wide and stunned as Stephanie took his arm and guided him in the direction of her office.

"Was she hitting on me? I mean you heard what she said to me right? And how she said it? She was definitely hitting on me, wasn't she?" asked Paul as he followed her in the room with a gobsmacked expression still on his face.

Stephanie rolled her eyes in amusement as she closed the office door behind them. "Eve leads a very sheltered life."

"Ha ha." Paul replied as his face lit up with his grin and his hand raked through his hair as he narrowed his eyes playfully. "So what's your excuse? After all, you're the one going on a date with me tonight."

"I clearly have a few mental issues." Stephanie shot back.

"Clearly." Paul chuckled and the low rumble of his laughter made her grin at him right back.

Stephanie could feel her nerves about seeing Paul tonight quickly start to dissipate. The thing with Eve had been a nice ice breaker and she could feel herself begin to relax around him. God knows she still grimaced every time she remembered their last date and more particularly her throwing herself at Paul. It seemed she liked to make it a habit every time they got together. Just the simple act of being around him sent her hormones out of whack or something. But not tonight. Tonight she was going to take this slow just like Paul wanted even if it killed her.

"So you're sounding a lot better. I take it you've finally kicked that cold of yours into touch."

"I have." Stephanie smiled, touched by his concern. "And I feel a lot better too."

"Good." Paul replied, his brown eyes twinkling back at her. "Although you do know that husky voice of yours sounded sexy as hell down the phone."

Stephanie rolled her eyes dryly lightly shaking her head. Trust Paul to find a sore, scratchy throat appealing. Although it had been nice to get his phone calls in between lying in bed and feeling sorry for her self. Part of her hadn't wanted to believe him when he had left her apartment that night promising to call her the next morning. Everything had felt so up in the air between them after he had rejected her advances for a second time. But Paul had called and he called every day after that. In fact their telephone conversations had become a sort of ritual over the last week or so. Paul would call to check how she was doing then they would talk about everything and nothing at all and before she realised it, a couple of hours had passed. It just felt so easy talking to Paul, so natural, and Stephanie swore she could feel them getting closer with every conversation. It was a closeness that felt intimate and a closeness that made her warm inside just like the thought of spending an entire evening alone with him tonight.

"I'm just going to change into these clothes." Stephanie told him eager to get the night started as she grabbed a black sweater and a pair of pale denim jeans that hung across the back of a chair.

She'd had a late appointment this afternoon with a pissed off wife and a very messy divorce and knowing how time consuming the case had become she'd had the hindsight to bring her clothes to the office and asked Paul to meet her here. It was just as well. The pissed off wife had left only ten minutes beforehand, more than two hours after she had arrived with a list of demands that was enough to make anyone's head spin.

"Are you sure the clothes are really necessary?"

Her blue eyes narrowed sharply at Paul's remark and he quickly held up his hands to explain himself.

"Hey all I meant was we'll just be at the movies. No one will notice what you're wearing."

Paul didn't want to add that he liked her in her business suit especially the straight black skirt that rested mid thigh. Honestly, he'd never seen legs like Stephanie's before. They were incredible and his fingers were itching to touch the smooth soft skin. He could only imagine what they would feel like completely naked and wrapped around his body. The very thought made his stomach knot in anticipation. But of course he wouldn't have to imagine if he would just get his shit together and stop freaking out the second it seemed things might go a little further between them. But it appeared he just had this total mind fuck when it came to Stephanie and sex. He guessed his guilty conscience over that stupid bet was the reason and it had a lot to answer for. Not only had it stopped him getting some it had also turned him into some weird neutered virgin or something. It wasn't him and he didn't like it one little bit.

"But I'll notice." Stephanie sniffed breaking his train of thought. "I'll be back in a minute."

Paul's eyes lingered on her slender figure until Stephanie disappeared behind the door of the adjoining bathroom. As his hand raked through his hair, he tugged on the hem of his black shirt and looked around the spacious office he stood in. It was painted in a light cream colour and blended in with the tone of the light beige carpet. It was very much like the neutral tones in Stephanie's apartment and it appeared she liked to keep things simple. Neat too judging by the perfectly stacked files of paper on her desk and it wouldn't surprise him if those files were even alphabetised. Her personal CD collection had been and it had made him chuckle. Stephanie was one organised lady, efficient too and he could imagine she was pretty stoic when it came down to business. It wouldn't be very often that Stephanie let her emotions influence her work decisions and she couldn't be emotional, not in her line of business. Although he had been witness to the one time she had broken down over a custody case and it had moved him. Seeing Stephanie so vulnerable had made him want to be that guy; the guy who wanted to look after her and protect her because the truth was he cared about her. Paul cared about Stephanie a lot.

"You ready to get out of here?"

Paul jumped slightly startled by the sound of her voice. He hadn't even heard Stephanie come out of the bathroom and as he turned his head, he found her smiling at him, waiting patiently by the door. That smile alone was enough to take his heart skip a beat. It was so vibrant and beautiful. Stephanie was beautiful with her hair falling in loose waves around her shoulders and she was wearing a simple v-necked sweater that accentuated her curves perfectly. Paul noticed she had taken off her glasses and her blue eyes appeared even bigger without them as they watched him.

"I was thinking we could maybe grab a quick bite to eat before the movie. If that's okay with you, of course."

Paul nodded his head. "It sounds perfect. Let's go."

The door clicked shut behind them echoing in the deserted hall of the building. The only sound was their footsteps as they made their way to the elevator.

"Eve must have left already." Stephanie commented as they passed by her desk and adjusting the shoulder strap of her black tote holdall, the palm of her hand banged the large square button summoning the elevator.

They only had to wait a matter of seconds before the metal doors slowly slid open and Paul offered Stephanie a small smile as he gestured towards the empty lift.

"After you."

"Why thank you." she grinned.

She pressed the button for the ground floor and the doors slid shut once more as the elevator began to descend.

"You do know you look beautiful tonight."

His compliment was unexpected and a slow shy smile lifted Stephanie's mouth at the corners.

"I have to confess though I am a little bit worried." said Paul as his head turned to stare straight ahead.

Her brow furrowed in confusion as the elevator hummed above them. "Worried? About what?"

Paul's left shoulder lifted in a shrug as he looked at Stephanie once more and there was no mistaking the mischievous glimmer in his deep brown pools as his eyes met hers. "Well I've only got about fifty dollars in cash. Think that's enough to stump up for your candy supply?" he teased.

Stephanie poked her tongue out playfully as they walked out of the elevator and into the deserted ground floor area. "Don't forget the extra large soda."

"Hey, I wouldn't push it if I were you."

"Cheap skate!" Stephanie retorted and she could hear the deep rumble of Paul's laughter behind her as they stepped out into the night air and descended the steps to the busy street outside.

* * *

"Shut up. I did not scream during the movie." Stephanie protested as the cool night breeze blew in her face and she pushed back the loose brown strands of her hair that had blown across her cheek.

Over five hours later they were back outside but this time they were heading across to the car park. Paul had parked there in a hurry after a quick bite to eat had turned into a three course dinner at Stephanie's favourite Italian restaurant. The meal had been delicious but their extended dinner date meant they had been late getting to the movie theatre. The opening sequence was well under way as they found their seats pushing past four or five disgruntled couples who were less than pleased at their viewing being interrupted. They obviously weren't squeamish like Stephanie had been and were enthralled by the blood and guts that had been on display for the last two hours. Honestly, she should have said no the second Paul had suggested the stupid scary movie but the truth was she hadn't wanted look like a pathetic girl. That and the fact it was a horror meant it had its own perks. Paul had held her hand the entire time and at one point had even put his arm around her allowing her to lean into him. That alone was worth the nightmares she would no doubt endure tonight not to mention the ribbing she was currently receiving from Paul.

"My ears are still ringing because your screaming was that loud" he smirked as he pressed the key fob in his hand and the indicator lights flashed on the car before he opened the passenger door and held it open for her.

"Stop exaggerating." she retorted as she climbed in the black Explorer biting back her smile.

She placed her bag on the floor next to her feet and settled into the comfortable leather seat as Paul got in next to her.

"Stephanie?"

Her blue eyes looked at him expectantly as he placed the key in the ignition, starting up the engine. He tilted his head towards her, his blonde hair sweeping over one eye as a slow grin crept across his face.

"What's your favourite scary movie?" he joked imitating a voice she had heard before in those silly Scream movies and she playfully shoved at him.

"You're an ass." she laughed as she shifted in her seat and got comfortable once more.

As her head turned to admire the pretty city lights, Stephanie couldn't help but reflect on the evening they'd shared and what a nice time she'd had with Paul. In fact, scratch that. She'd had a wonderful time. Dinner had been lovely and had felt surprisingly romantic with the small booth they had shared and the flickering candlelight between them. Even Paul reaching across to take her fingers and lightly pressing them to his lips before he held them had made her chest flutter madly and of course he had insisted on paying the bill even though dinner had been her suggestion in the first place. In fact Paul had footed the bill the entire night and she realised she wasn't surprised by that. Despite the extremely chauvinistic and annoying mannerisms that he could display from time to time, Paul was very chivalrous. Most times he could be the perfect gentlemen and it was the little things that she appreciated like opening the door for her or making sure she had a napkin so she didn't wipe the grease from her butter popcorn on her jeans. No one had taken care of her like that before, not even Rob. His ex had been under the impression that because she was tough and a ball breaker in business that she was like that in her personal life too. He didn't get that those two parts of her life were separate, that perhaps she was nothing like her work persona at all. That in actual fact, she sometimes liked being treated like a woman. Sometimes it was nice to be able to depend on somebody else to take care of you and look after you instead of constantly relying on yourself. Somebody just like Paul.

Stephanie's lips curved up gently at the thought of him and turning her head to sneak a glance, she found her eyes directly in contact with his. Her ocean blue pools narrowed suspiciously. "What are you looking at?" she asked.

"You." Paul replied simply as he briefly averted his glance to check the road before looking in her direction once more and grinning.

"You know it's usually a good idea to keep your eyes on the road." Stephanie suggested as she tried to ignore the butterflies in her chest. The same butterflies she felt each and every time he looked at her that way, the look that told her Paul wanted to kiss her every bit as much as she wanted to kiss him and be kissed by him.

"Well I can't help it if they'd rather be on something else." Paul replied as he turned his attention back to the road once more and guiding the steering wheel in his hands, he turned left around a corner before quickly pulling into the tarmac ramp leading to the underground car park.

Stephanie sighed wistfully, disappointed to find they were back at her office already. She silently cursed herself for leaving her car here and for stupidly asking Paul to drop her off here the second they had left the movie theatre. To say she was regretting it was an understatement because there was no chance they would be spending the night here together instead of somewhere more convenient like say her own apartment. Not that their location mattered because the truth was they wouldn't be spending the night together anyway, not when they were taking things slow. Fucking slow. What was the benefit of that anyway? All it did was leave her waiting for something she craved constantly and in the process made her extremely horny and frustrated.

But as the car stopped and she looked at Paul, Stephanie knew he was worth the wait and then some. She just needed to have a little bit of patience. "I had a good time tonight." she told him sincerely as Paul switched off the engine.

"You know you don't have to sound so surprised every time you say that." he smiled as he shifted in his seat and turned to face her.

Paul's big hand reached for hers and his fingers felt deliciously warm as they curled around her own digits that rested on her left thigh. Stephanie lifted her shoulder in a shrug.

"Maybe this just feels too good to be true. I mean we didn't exactly hit it off the first time we met."

"Or the second." Paul grinned making Stephanie chuckle.

"Even the third." she teased back.

"But the main thing is we got together in the end, right?"

"Right." said Stephanie as her mouth curved up shyly in a delighted smile and she could feel the pad of Paul's thumb gently caress her knuckles.

His brown eyes sparkled back at her. "Even if you do still bug me at times." he smirked.

Stephanie made a face at him. "The feeling is mutual Levesque."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way."

Paul's left hand reached for her and cupping her right cheek, he brought Stephanie's face towards his brushing his lips over hers. His lips were soft and warm and Stephanie sighed contentedly as she closed her eyes and melted into him. Her flattened palm rested against the firm muscle of Paul's chest and she could feel the faint trace of his heartbeat. It felt steady unlike the beat of her own heart which felt like it was racing madly in her chest the way it always did whenever she was within ten feet of this man. And that heart beat only got faster as Paul's mouth opened a little and he began kissing her deeply. His fingers tangled in her hair as he brought Stephanie closer to him. The familiar scent of his aftershave invaded her senses and as her hand slowly skimmed up and down his chest, Paul's tongue flicked out teasing her top lip. He didn't have to ask her twice. Stephanie's mouth instinctively parted allowing him entry and a gentle whimper escaped from the back of her hot throat as his tongue met hers, sliding together as they tasted one another. And Paul tasted so sweet and so tempting.

Feeling her resolve crumble, Stephanie let her hands travel to the bottom hem of Paul's black shirt and dipping her fingers underneath, her nails lightly scratched his skin as she traced the hard muscle of his stomach. Paul's mouth was assaulting her neck now and Stephanie felt like she was gulping for air as he nibbled on a sensitive spot. Christ, her body was tingling and she could feel the hardened peaks of her nipples strain against the lace material of her bra. She was turned on beyond belief and her body ached for Paul to touch her in a way she dreamed about being touched by him. And God had she dreamed about it. This past week, every time after they ended their call to each other, Stephanie would lie in bed imagining Paul kissing her and his hands moving over her body, touching her in all the right places, places that were absolutely desperate to be touched by him.

Just then Paul's hand skimmed over her breast, heightening her senses and Stephanie let out a soft moan as his mouth travelled lower. He gently encouraged her to move backwards as he pushed down the neck of her sweater, exposing the black lace material underneath and flicking his tongue over the creamy mound of flesh that poked over the top. Stephanie let out a hiss of pleasure as he found her nipple sucking it and pulling it with his teeth.

"God, Paul."

She said his name with a heavy sigh as she closed her eyes and fell further back into the seat. Her head was pressed up against the headrest as he began kissing her once more. Paul's bodyweight was slightly pressed against her and she relished the feel of him on top of her as she kissed him back, probing his mouth with her tongue. Her hand was further up his body now touching his chest as Paul's fingers kneaded the flesh at the top of her thigh. Stephanie silently urged him further, wanting him to touch her there, wanting him to relieve the agonising ache she felt without him because she needed this. She needed to feel Paul touch her. She bucked her hips, encouraging him as she murmured her desperate plea into Paul's parted lips.

"Touch me, Paul. Please."

Stephanie soon regretted her words. Paul's breathing was hot and heavy in her ear as he buried his face into her hair stalling his movement as he lay still on top of her.

"Not here." he hushed.

Stephanie squeezed her eyes shut in frustration as she tried to gather her composure and shake off the feeling of rejection that threatened to overwhelm her. Because he'd done it to her again. The second things got the least bit heavy between them, Paul had backed off. But why? Because they were supposed to adults for God sakes. Not a couple of horny teenagers fresh out of junior high too scared and naïve to take things to the next level.

"Your security guard will probably report us for public indecency." Paul tried to joke when he eventually lifted his head and Stephanie allowed her eyes to flicker open.

Paul had a point. There was security in this place and the last thing she needed was her hard-built reputation being tarnished by an embarrassing grope fest in the front seat of her boyfriend's car. A grope fest that would no doubt get ridiculed by every single guy in the place, every guy who thought she didn't deserve to be an attorney in the first place. At least not the attorney she wanted to be. An attorney with ambition.

Stephanie watched as Paul covered her up, carefully replacing her exposed breast back in her sweater and once again, against her better judgement, she put herself out there.

"Or you could just come inside with me and he wouldn't have to report us for anything. The office isn't monitored." she informed him.

Paul said nothing for a moment as he carefully lifted himself from Stephanie. His skin felt cold as her hand fell away from his body. The blood was beating in his ears and rushing someplace else he didn't want to think about right now. Shit. He was such a fucking jerk not to mention an idiot. After all, what guy in their right mind would reject a woman like Stephanie and not just once but three times now? And she was a woman who was blatantly into him. Stephanie wanted him and she made no bones about it. It was flattering and an admirable trait too because she didn't play any games with him. What a fucking pity he didn't have the foresight to do the same because if he'd just gone up to Stephanie and talked to her in the first place like any normal human being he wouldn't be in this mess. He wouldn't be feeling guilty about a stupid fucking bet. And that's what he was. He was stupid and fucking reckless. He was prepared to dick around with someone's feelings in am attempt to massage his own ego. But that was before he knew her. He had no idea Stephanie could turn into this person who could mean everything to him, a person who he was falling for hook, line and sinker. Feelings that he couldn't deny any more and feelings that ensured he could never be honest with her. Paul couldn't tell her his real reason for pursuing her in the first place because telling Stephanie would inevitably mean losing her and he couldn't take that risk. He couldn't take the chance on losing a woman who slowly but surely was becoming his heart.

But as Paul allowed himself to look at Stephanie, he saw the hopeful expression on her face and wondered if he would end up losing her anyway especially when he was about to disappoint her again. God knows he couldn't keep doing this. Paul let out a sigh as he ran his fingers through his dishevelled blonde hair and shifted uncomfortably in the driver's seat.

"Look as tempting as that sounds, I can't. I'm sorry." he said eventually and his stomach knotted with his guilt as the hopeful expression on Stephanie's face twisted with her hurt and frustration.

"You can't or you don't want to?" she snapped back as she crossed her arms defensively across her chest and glared at him.

"Steph…"

But his explanation was quickly interrupted as Stephanie shook her head angrily.

"Look is there something wrong with me?" she asked.

Paul's brown eyes went wide. "What are you talking about?"

"You heard me." she shot back firmly. "Is there something about me you just don't find attractive?"

Paul found himself choking on his words unable to believe Stephanie could even think that way. That she could even look in the mirror every day and still consider she wasn't attractive was a mystery to him. "What? Are you crazy?" he cried. "Steph, you're beautiful."

Her big blue eyes softened with his compliment but they quickly washed over with the pain she felt from Paul's rejection. "Then why?" she asked him. "Why won't you touch me? Because let's be honest here. I'm not exactly the innocent little virgin and neither are you."

"No." he agreed.

"Then why don't you want to have sex with me?"

"Steph!" Paul stammered, stunned by her bluntness.

"What?" she asked bemused by his reaction. Paul usually wasn't shy in coming forwards. Of course all that changed when it came to sex and more particularly sex with her. The whole thing was so horribly frustrating which is why she needed answers. She needed to know this wasn't about her and how she made Paul feel.

"It's a perfectly natural question." she continued. "And a perfectly natural progression too if I'm not mistaken. I mean you like me. I like you and usually when two people like each other like we do, things happen. They even end up in bed with one another. But you don't seem to want to end up in bed with me."

Stephanie paused, sighing and rolling her lips together thoughtfully, lips that still tingled with the aftermath of Paul's kiss.

"Why, Paul?" she asked him. "I mean you say you want to take this slow but I'm not sure I get your reasons why and it's leading me to think that it's just because I'm not desirable to you."

Paul slowly shook his head, his mouth parted in disbelief. "Are you nuts? Of course you're desirable."

"You've got a funny way of showing it." Stephanie replied, smiling almost sadly.

It was a smile that tugged at Paul's heart and his hand reached for her, pleading with her to understand.

"Steph, I want you. Trust me. I do." he reassured her.

But his answer only served to frustrate Stephanie even further and she let out a heavy sigh as her blue eyes observed him carefully.

"Then why, Paul? Why when the second I even try and initiate things between us, you bolt for the door? I mean I'm supposed to be the woman in this relationship. If there is anyone bolting over sex it should be me. Trust me. I have form."

But her confusion was only heightened further as Paul looked at her curiously and almost with a gleam in his eye.

"What?" she asked.

"So we're in a relationship, huh?"

His slow, delighted smile did nothing to curb Stephanie's worries and she lifted her shoulder in a shrug as her brow crinkled with her concern.

"Right now, I'm really not sure and I'm not even sure if I want to be. I mean I can't be with someone who doesn't even want to touch me. Not like that."

Stephanie dipped her head looking away from him. Paul's grin faded as he felt panic grip at his chest because this was exactly what he had feared would happen. That Stephanie would somehow get the wrong message about him and they would be history. And he didn't want that to happen because honestly, aside from that fucking bet, he'd enjoyed the last month or so with her. He enjoyed her company and he enjoyed getting home from a crappy day at work and having it suddenly made better from the simple act of picking up the phone to her. In fact it was the highlight of his day, at least those days he couldn't be with her. And even when he wasn't with Stephanie, he was thinking about her. This woman had consumed him so much so it would kill him to lose her.

But as his brown eyes watched her carefully, he knew he was losing her anyway which meant that he was screwed anyway and really he had nothing to gain by keeping the truth from her.

Letting out a quick, calming breath and ignoring the trembling in his gut, Paul tried to find the courage to start one of the most difficult conversations of his life.

"Look, can I be honest with you?" he asked.

"That would be a refreshing change." Stephanie remarked as she tilted her head, looking at him once more. And as those remarkable blue eyes watched him, Paul found that courage quickly slipping away because the very idea of disappointing this woman or letting her realise the person he truly was wrecked him inside.

"Go on." she encouraged him as she waited patiently.

Stephanie's lips lifted in an expectant smile and in that split second, Paul's decision was made.

"Steph, you drive me crazy. You do." he told her as he nervously scratched at his beard trying desperately to find the words to make her understand, any words that wouldn't hurt her or disappoint her.

"I mean I've never met anyone more infuriating in my life." Paul continued to ramble on. "You've got an answer for anything and you challenge me in a way that no one else has before. But that's because you're smart, see. You're the smartest woman I've ever met and you're witty and vivacious. And so beautiful."

There was a beat as Paul's expression turned gentle and his brown eyes appraised the beauty in front of him.

"In fact beautiful doesn't even do you justice because Steph, you're incredible." he told her softly. "God knows it's more than a smartass like me deserves. And I keep waiting for you to realise that. I keep waiting for you to realise that maybe I'm not the guy you want to take a chance on after all. And wait for you to realise that dating me is a mistake."

Paul raked his big hand through his hair once more as the blood pulsed in his ears and he waited for Stephanie to respond.

"You can feel free to refute that any time by the way." he told her with a nervous chuckle feeling the strain of her silence.

Stephanie left him in that agonising silence for a few seconds more before she said the very last thing in the world Paul expected her to say.

"I think I'm falling in love with you."

His mouth hung open in shock as he stared at her in complete bewilderment. "What?" he asked, not sure he heard her right, wondering if his panicked mind was playing tricks on him.

But Paul knew it was anything but a trick as Stephanie's face flickered with an unfathomable expression before she lifted her chin almost defiantly shaking her head. Her blue eyes wandered, refusing to look anywhere near him.

"Nothing. I take it back." she said.

"You can't." Paul replied simply.

Stephanie whipped her head up, looking at him sharply. "Why?"

"Because you already said it. It's out there."

And boy was it out there.

"Did you mean it?" Paul asked.

"No. I actually just said it for kicks." Stephanie replied as her personal defence mechanism, her sarcasm, kicked in. "Of course I meant it." she sighed pushing her hair back behind her left ear, "I mean you're the first guy I've dated since….well you're the first guy in a long time and despite our silly cat and mouse antics with one another, this isn't just a game for me. Not any more. I'm falling in love with you Paul."

Paul's mouth parted to reply and Stephanie quickly lifted her hand, pressing her finger against his lips to silence him.

"Shhh. Don't say anything. I don't want you to say something just because I said something."

Paul's brow crinkled with his confusion. "Okay."

"Because when you say it, if you do say it, I want it to be of your own accord. I don't want you to say it because you feel you have to." Stephanie explained hurriedly.

"Okay." he agreed unable to say much else because the truth is Stephanie had thrown him for a loop. A good loop but a loop none the less.

"Good. Then do you think you could just kiss me now so I can at least try and hide the fact that I'm totally embarrassed by what I just told you."

A slow grin crept across Paul's face as his hand lifted to her face, tucking Stephanie underneath the chin. "But you look so cute all shy and flustered like that."

She scowled as her eyes narrowed with her glare. "Shut up Paul and just kiss me."

"Come here." he whispered against Stephanie's lips as his mouth covered hers and he kissed her.


	17. Chapter 17

This ended up being much longer than I intended but hopefully you don't mind and you enjoy the chapter. :)

* * *

Chapter 17

"Please tell me there is no damn karaoke here tonight."

Stephanie smiled at Paul as they walked along the tree lined street heading for the bar that was straight in front of them. Its blue neon sign shone brightly in the low light of dusk almost like it was beckoning them to their destination.

"I can assure you there is no damn karaoke." she replied as they side stepped a couple of teenage girls heading in their direction. There was no mistaking their appreciative glances as Paul passed them by and Stephanie couldn't blame them for practically drooling all over him. After all how could you not admire a guy as breathtaking as he was? And Paul was breathtaking. God every time she looked at him lately, her heart skipped a beat almost like he was constantly catching her by surprise which she guessed was true in a way because she never expected to feel like this. She never expected to fall so hard and so fast especially after everything that had happened with Rob. But Paul was nothing like Rob. Paul was different. Paul made her laugh out loud. He could also frustrate the living hell out of her a lot of the time too but she couldn't deny the chemistry they had together, the spark that made her feel alive. She felt it each and every time they touched. The tiniest kiss made her weak at the knees. Even now the simple act of walking down the street holding his hand made her glow from the inside. It was completely pathetic but also completely true.

"After you." Paul grinned gesturing towards the glass paned door as he held it open for her.

That was another thing in his favour. Despite his caveman tendencies from time to time, Paul was actually quite the gentleman.

"Why thank you." Stephanie grinned back as she pushed past him letting her fingers slide from his as she entered the small busy bar.

She was met with the sound of music coming from the large jukebox in the corner and the loud hum of conversation that accompanied it. Stephanie felt Paul's hand on the small of her back as she began to push her way through the bodies that blocked her path to the bar.

"I can see them over there by the window." Paul said into her ear.

Stephanie let him in guide her in that direction as her blue eyes scanned the faces in front of her, searching for their friends. She smiled when she spotted Natasha's familiar blonde head and her hand lifted in a wave as they approached the area where she was standing alone.

"Stephanie! You made it." Natasha beamed as she held her arms out to embrace her. "I thought you were never going to get your ass here."

"Yeah well Paul didn't leave me much option." Stephanie replied as she squeezed her friend back tightly, totally delighted to see her. It felt like forever since she had seen her although she spoke to her on the phone every other day and it had only been last week since Natasha had visited in her office demanding that she join her for lunch.

"You hide the laptop?" Natasha asked Paul as she hugged him hello.

He nodded as he grinned at her conspiratorially. "It's safely locked away along with a stack of papers I found in the kitchen."

"Well done. I am impressed."

Stephanie shook her head playfully as she smiled at them both. "Look at the pair of you, all pleased with yourselves."

"Jamie at the bar?" asked Paul as he raked his big hand through his hair and casually looked for his friend.

"Where else would he be?"

"I'll go say hello." Paul chuckled as he dropped a kiss in Stephanie's hair before disappearing into the crowd.

Her blue eyes followed him until Natasha's voice got her attention.

"This is for you."

Stephanie turned her head and smiled when she saw the vodka glass held out in her direction. "Tash, you are an angel."

As Stephanie took a large mouthful of her drink, she didn't notice Natasha watching her carefully or see the concerned expression on her face.

"So how's work?" she asked.

Stephanie swallowed the chilled vodka before sighing heavily. "Stressful." she admitted.

The truth was work was a complete bitch right now and Natasha was all too aware of that being she had to endure her tired rants most times she called her. She was still covering for the partner who was out sick after his heart surgery and between his work load and her own she had case files coming out of her ears. Not only that the family evaluations in her custody case had now been completed so she was back in court Monday. Preparations for that along with everything else meant she had been working twenty four seven for the last few weeks or at least that's what it felt like most days. Physically and emotionally she was drained. Thankfully she'd managed to fit in the odd dinner date or two with Paul and that had stopped her from going completely crazy. One night he'd even shown up at the office at midnight with a takeaway and a bottle of wine and that was when he'd admitted he was worried she was going to burn herself out. She had made a promise to him then that she would take care of herself although sometimes that was easier said than done.

"You should ask Paul to help you out with that." suggested Natasha as she lifted her glass from the window ledge next to her and took a sip of her drink. Stephanie was watching her curiously and she grinned back at her. "Apparently getting laid relieves stress." she explained.

"Pfft!" Stephanie snorted out loud. "Chance would be a fine thing."

Natasha tucked a wayward blonde strand behind her ear as her brow narrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"It doesn't matter." Stephanie said quickly shaking her head not quite sure she wanted to get into the whole thing and remind herself of her growing sexual frustration into the bargain.

"Well it obviously bloody does judging by that look on your face."

Natasha stared at her impatiently and Stephanie realised she had no choice but to admit the truth. Her love life was usually an open book away when it came to her best friend.

"Paul won't sleep with me." she told her.

Natasha's brown eyes went wide with surprise. "You're kidding me?"

Stephanie shook her head. "Do I look like I'm kidding?"

She paused for a second, letting out a soft sigh.

"Apparently he doesn't want to rush things." she explained. "He'd rather take the time to get to know me first."

"But that's a good thing right?" asked Natasha.

"Fuck no!" shot back Stephanie as she felt her frustration bubble to the surface. And she was frustrated. In fact scratch that, she was becoming desperate.

"I mean who wants slow when every time I look at the guy I want to jump his bones."

"Please. Don't hold back on my account." her friend grinned, clearly amused by her outburst.

"But it's true, Tash. I mean, you just have to look at him." Stephanie sighed raking her hand through her hair. "He's so beautiful and sexy and just aaaaargh! I mean how can a guy look like that and expect a girl to keep her hands to herself."

Natasha rolled her eyes playfully. "I know. Talk about inconsiderate."

"And then there's that grin and those eyes that just make you melt inside. And the way he nibbles on your neck…." Stephanie continued wistfully.

"I say it's definitely all Paul's fault for making you want to sleep with him in the first place."

She threw her hand up triumphantly. "See, you're totally reading my mind."

"What a bastard." concurred Natasha.

Stephanie nodded. "Yep."

"So what are you going to about it?"

Stephanie's blue eyes narrowed curiously. "Do?"

"Yes, do. I mean you're not just going to accept it, are you?" asked Natasha as she placed her hand on her friend's shoulder, guiding Stephanie out of the way as a group of women pushed past them.

"Well I don't really have a choice unless I just take the guy against his will." Stephanie surmised jokingly as she polished off her vodka dumping the empty glass down on a vacant table she spotted behind Natasha.

"Sounds like a perfect plan to me."

"Tash!" she cried out berating her friend.

"What?" Natasha chuckled in amusement.

"You do know that could be classed as rape, right?" Stephanie scolded.

"Hey, you're a lawyer." Natasha smiled, her eyes twinkling back at her friend. "I'm sure you'd find yourself a few legal loop holes to get out of it."

"Get out of what?"

Jamie's booming voice interrupted their conversation. Natasha waved her hand dismissing his question as she absently smiled at him while she adjusted the strap of her purse that hung from her shoulder.

"Never mind. Just get another round in will you?" she asked him as she tilted her head, gesturing towards the bathrooms at the rear of the building. "I need to visit the ladies room."

Jamie rolled his eyes dryly as he watched his sister vanish into the crowd. "You know that girl always disappears when it's her turn to put her hand in her pocket." he grumbled. "So, Steph, what's your poison?"

"I'll have a vodka and orange thanks." Stephanie smiled silently wondering what Jamie's poison had been tonight. It was clear he'd had a few judging by the way he was swaying ever so slightly next to her and of course there was the overwhelming scent of alcohol that accompanied him that clearly gave the game away.

"What? You don't want one of those weird red looking things you sometimes drink?" Jamie asked her.

Stephanie bit back her smile. "Not tonight, thanks."

"Lev should be over in a minute." Jamie explained as he shoved his big hands in the pockets of his jeans. "That stupid ass Dave has got him talking shop like he always fucking does. By the way, he's been talking about you too. Paul, that is. Not Dave."

"I figured." Stephanie chuckled in fond amusement. She liked Jamie. She had a lot of time for him.

"See that's because you're a smart girl, Steph." Jamie continued as his left hand reached out of his pocket to scratch at his head absently. "I mean you're a lawyer for fuck sakes and I have to admit you scare the shit out of me sometimes. You scared the shit out of Paul too when he first got to know you but not now. Now he thinks you're the best thing ever."

Stephanie felt the warm glow she got at that comment spread through her entire body.

"You know it's really cool the pair of you found one another. I mean who would have thought you two would actually hit it off. Because no offence, Steph, you're not the easiest girl in the world to get to know."

"I'm not, huh?" she smirked bemused by that admission. Jamie could become alarmingly honest when he was drunk and he rambled on, a fact she'd witnessed on several occasions including now. She'd also witnessed his stripping act too but that was a story for another time.

"Nope. And I said that to Paul." Jamie continued, his expression terribly serious as he looked at Stephanie. "I told him he would crash and burn with you but you know Paulie. That only made you more of a challenge to him."

Her brow raised curiously. "A challenge, huh?"

"Yeah but in a good way. I mean I knew you were going to give him a run for his money but he didn't care. He was more than happy to pay the price."

"What price?" Stephanie commented interrupting him, her blue eyes twinkling with her amusement as she wondered where the hell he was going with this. "What are you talking about Jamie?"

When she asked that question she was smiling but that smile faltered when she saw the alarmed expression on the guy's face. His eyes dropped to the floor as he looked somewhat uncomfortable. Stephanie wondered what had got him so spooked. After all, it wasn't like he had said anything in particular. In fact after all that rambling, she was struggling to remember most of what he had said at all.

"You know what? I actually don't know so forget it. In fact forget everything I said. I'm drunk and I'm clearly not making sense." he said chuckling lightly as he nodded his head in the direction of the bar. "I'd better get those drinks before Tash gets back." he said.

"How about I get them? It's my round anyway." Stephanie offered brushing past him her blue eyes searching for Paul already. Suddenly she was keen to see him and be with him. God knows her time with him the next couple of weeks was going to be limited to say the least so she wanted to make the most of every second she could get and if that meant mauling him in a crowded bar then so be it.

"Sure." Jamie called out after her. "See if you can't drag his ass away from that fat fucker Dave while you're there."

Stephanie grinned to herself as she excused herself past a bunch of guys in her path. And that grin only got wider when she saw the handsome face staring right at her.

"Hey, I was just on my way to find you." Paul told her as his big hand lightly clasped her arm leading her towards an empty spot at the bar. "I wasn't sure what you wanted to drink."

"A vodka." she told him. "A large one."

Paul grinned as he leaned his elbow on the bar and briefly searching for the bar tender, he turned his attention back to Stephanie.

"So you managed to escape from Dave then?" she asked him.

Paul smiled and nodded. "How did you know I was talking to him?" he asked amused.

"Jamie."

His brow raised in acknowledgement. "I wondered where he had gotten to." Paul said as he lightly scratched at his beard.

"We've just had an interesting conversation actually." Stephanie informed him.

"You do know Jamie and interesting don't usually belong in the same sentence."

She chuckled as she shifted closed to Paul. His arm slid around her waist casually resting there as he checked once more for the bar tender. Stephanie could feel the gentle heat from his hand work its way through her like a rush of fire through her blood.

"So what were you guys talking about?" Paul asked as his brown eyes settled on her once more.

"I'm not entirely sure." Stephanie admitted. "But it involved me and you and how apparently you see me as a sort of a challenge." she informed him smiling.

"I do?"

She nodded as her face crinkled with her confused amusement. "A challenge that somehow turned into the subject of money and paying the price."

There was a beat before Paul eventually reacted to what she had told him.

"Really?" he said snorting out loud.

But his reaction was too late. Stephanie had already seen his expression falter and suddenly alarm bells were starting to ring in her head. Alarm bells that made her realise Jamie's rambling might not be as harmless as she thought after all. Not when he and Paul had reacted the way they had.

"And you know something?" she began turning to Paul causing his hand to fall from her waist. "I thought he was just drunk and talking a lot of crap until I just saw that look on your face." she said.

"What look?" asked Paul, his brown eyes wide and innocent. But he wasn't fooling anyone, least of all Stephanie.

"The same look I just saw on Jamie's face when I asked him to explain why he was talking about us and money and why you both look so guilty about it?" she said.

There was no mistaking the flicker of remorse on his handsome face which only backed up her statement and a sick feeling of dread began to descend on her.

"Paul, what's going on here?" asked Stephanie.

"Nothing." he smiled but it was a smile that didn't reach his eyes and that spoke volumes to her.

"Don't lie to me."

Paul glanced away, his shoulders slumping with defeat. The blood was now pounding in Stephanie's ears as her uneasiness started to escalate.

"So are you going to tell me or do I have to beat it out of you?" she demanded.

Paul slowly lifted his head, his apologetic expression doing nothing for her nerves.

"Look we need to talk." he sighed.

"You're damn right we do!"

"Can we go outside?" he asked her.

"Sure." she nodded.

Stephanie spun on her heel and began to stride purposefully for the door. She didn't even see the faces she pushed past to make her escape. All she knew was the thirty or so seconds it took her to make it to the door were the longest thirty seconds of her life.

Despite the warm May breeze that blew through her hair when she finally stepped out onto the sidewalk, Stephanie suddenly felt terribly cold and her hand absently rubbed her bare arm as she rested against the brick wall and waited for Paul. She didn't have to wait long. Her body tingled with his overwhelming presence as he came to stand next to her.

"Where do I start?" he asked her.

Stephanie lifted her shoulder in a shrug as she slowly turned her head in his direction. The setting sun cast an orange hue across his face making Paul look even more beautiful to her if that was even possible. "The beginning is usually a good place." she offered.

Her blue eyes watched him expectantly. Paul let himself get lost in them for a moment wondering what the odds were he would get out of this alive. Not that he should even be thinking about odds right now. Not when it was a stupid fucking bet that had got him here in the first place. A bet he should never agreed to but hey, tell that one to his giant inflated ego. Apparently it was so fucking huge he thought it could bed the most beautiful woman on the face of the planet and just walk away like it never meant a thing, like her feelings were never important. How fucking stupid had he been? Of course he could never have imagined that woman becoming so much more that a simple conquest. In fact it was safe to say she was quickly becoming everything. Stephanie meant the world to him so much so he knew he had no option but to be completely honest with her with everything. He owed her that much at least just like he owed Jamie a kick in the ass for opening his stupid big mouth. This wouldn't be happening if his so called best friend hadn't dropped him right in it. Although deep down, Paul silently wondered if he hadn't done him a favour because if there was the tiniest chance Stephanie would forgive him for being such a jerk, at least he could be with her, like really be with her without his guilty conscience getting in the way each and every time they got close to one another because he was tired of the excuses. He was tired of his guilt getting in the way. He wanted to be with Stephanie and be with her in every sense of the word.

"Well?"

Stephanie glared at him impatiently to start explaining himself and Paul knew his time had officially run out. It was time to come clean. Raking his big hand through his hair, he sighed softly as he rested his back against the building.

"You remember that first night I ever met you?" he began as his mouth twitched with a fond affection. "You were standing here actually, practically on this spot, freezing your ass off waiting on a friend."

Stephanie couldn't help the tiny smile that accompanied that memory. "I guess it went something like that."

"Well I was meeting Jamie that night." Paul explained as he paused for a second coughing lightly and clearing his throat. He smiled at her apologetically before continuing. "It was the first time I'd seen the guy in forever. He'd been working off shore. The Indian Ocean I think it was. Anyway, we got talking and somehow the subject of women came up."

Stephanie rolled her eyes dryly. "Surprise, surprise."

But Paul couldn't even raise a smile as his serious brown eyes looked at her, desperately pleading with her. "You got to understand, Steph, I was in a bad place. Nicole and I had just broken up and I had decided I was pretty much done with relationships. I never expected this. I never expected you."

Paul's explanation was beginning to sound like an excuse for whatever it was he had done and if Stephanie felt uneasy before, it was nothing compared to how she felt now. Her sense of dread and worry had suddenly increased ten fold and she needed answers despite everything inside her wanting to run a mile right now. "Never mind the excuses, Paul. What's this about and tell me the truth. It's the least you owe me." she reminded him.

Paul nodded solemnly showing her he completely agreed. "Jamie and I made a bet." he admitted.

Stephanie's brow furrowed with her concern. "What kind of bet?"

Suddenly the words came lodged in his throat. Paul knew this was practically his death sentence. Not only that, he wasn't sure if he could bear to see the disappointment on Stephanie's face and witness the pain he was about to cause her once she heard the absolute truth.

"Does it really matter?" he asked her desperately hoping that he could somehow put her off. But he knew he was clutching at straws. After all she was a lawyer for fuck sakes. She made a living interrogating people and catching out the bad guys and unfortunately today he was one of them.

"Of course it fucking matters, Paul. What kind of bet?" Stephanie repeated as she glared at him.

Her icy blue stare sent a chill down his spine and Paul briefly wondered if this is what it would feel like to stand in the witness box having questions fired at you. Did they choke on their words like he had? Did they feel completely intimidated by Stephanie's relentlessness? He wasn't intimidated though. He was just sad. Sad that he was about to ruin the best thing that had ever happened to him.

"Paul!" she demanded once more.

Paul silently apologised to Stephanie for what he was about to tell her. "I had a month to get you into bed."

She visibly flinched at his admission before looking at him momentarily stunned. "What?" she asked.

"Look, I know how it sounds and I'm not proud of myself okay?" Paul explained as he held his hands up quickly trying his best to appease her. His hand reached for her but Stephanie deliberately stepped away out of his path.

"How much?" she asked him coldly.

This time it was Paul's turn to look stunned because he hadn't even considered the money coming into the equation. "What?"

"You heard me." Stephanie spat back angrily. "How much to get me into bed?"

"Why does that matter?"

"Call it my morbid curiosity." she explained. "Come on, Paul. How much was I worth?"

She folded her arms across her chest as she stared at him, demanding an answer. Paul tried to approach her but she took another step away from him.

"Steph…." he began but Stephanie immediately cut him off, her beautiful face stern and angry.

"How much, Paul?" she cried and he could only shake his head in dismay knowing he had no option but to tell her.

"In the end, a thousand bucks." Paul sighed.

"In the end?" Stephanie asked incredulously.

He mentally kicked himself for saying that. He had only made things ten thousand times worse if that was even possible. Letting out a heavy sigh, Paul could feel the noose already round his neck tightening even further.

"It was five hundred at first." he said guiltily. "We doubled the bet."

Her anguished cry was like a stab to his heart and Paul reached for her, desperate to make her understand.

"Steph, please. It's not what it sounds like." he pleaded.

"Yes it is." she snorted as she shrugged Paul off. "Don't insult my intelligence."

Stephanie turned her back to him, unable to look at him. Not only did it hurt to be around him right now, she didn't want to give Paul the satisfaction of seeing the tears that were threatening to spill over her lashes. Stephanie blinked them back quickly determined not to break down over this. Paul didn't deserve her pain. He didn't deserve anything. After all this had meant nothing to him. How could it? It was all just some silly little game, a game where she had been nothing more than a silly pawn. And everyone knew pawns were worthless just like she obviously was. After all what did she matter? Her feelings had never factored in any of this. They never came into consideration but hey she could take comfort in the fact that at least a night in the sack with her was worth something. It was worth one thousand bucks apparently. She would feel flattered if it wasn't so fucking insulting.

Stephanie let out a shaky breath as she struggled to hold onto her composure. God knows it was hard when her heart was breaking into tiny pieces. She cared for Paul and she'd been dumb to believe he might care for her too. How wrong had she been? Because it turned out the only thing Paul cared about was money. Nothing else and certainly not her either. How could he when he was making her feel like this?

"Steph?"

The sound of his voice cut her like a knife and she wrapped her arms protectively around herself as she let out a shaky breath.

"So it turns out I'm just some fucking bet, huh?" she said sadly.

"That's not true."

"Yes it is." she sniffed lightly shivering in the night air. "You were going to sleep with me for money and God, now I sound like some sort of hooker." she cried out in distress as she spun on her heel to face Paul. Her blue eyes glared at him accusingly as she continued. "And you know the worst part? I feel like one too. You used me, Paul."

His blonde hair shifted across his shoulders as he quickly shook his head. "That's not true." he protested.

"You know you keep saying that but you can't deny the facts, Paul. You can't deny I was a bet." Stephanie said glaring at him, practically daring him to even try and refute that fact.

But he didn't. Instead Paul tried his best to try and make her understand.

"But that was before I knew you, Steph. Before I got to know the person you are….."

"So that makes it alright?" she shot back cutting him off.

"No. Of course it doesn't." Paul said. "But I'm just trying to explain…"

"Trying to explain what? That you're a liar?"

His words stuck in his throat once more as Paul realised Stephanie wasn't going to even give him a chance. She was determined not to listen and he honestly couldn't blame her. He had let her down. He had let himself down.

"You know it all makes sense now!" Stephanie exclaimed as began to lightly pace in front of him, her mind working overtime as she arrived at her own conclusion. "I mean you wouldn't sleep with me and now I know why. Your feelings for me were never real. They couldn't be."

Stephanie's heels scuffed against the concrete kerb as she came to a stop and looked directly at Paul. He shook his head adamantly, his stern brown eyes settling on hers. "You're wrong, Steph. On both counts."

Her scoff echoed in the breeze as she glanced up at the sky in obvious disbelief but Paul remained determined to plead his case. He took a step towards her, his hand lightly gripping her shoulder and guiding her back towards him.

"Look at me." he demanded.

Stephanie remained defiant for a few seconds refusing to do just that before her lashes batted heavily and she reluctantly lifted her ocean blue pools to his face. There was no disguising the unshed tears that welled in her eyes or the pain that flickered there. The guilt crippled Paul knowing he was the one responsible for this. He was the one that was doing this to her. That's why he had to make her understand. He had to make her realise it wasn't what she thought.

"You want to know why I didn't sleep with you?" he began deciding just to lay all his cards on the table. After all what could he possibly have left to lose? "I didn't sleep with you because it is real. What I feel for you is so real it actually fucking terrifies me if you want the truth because I'm falling for you, Stephanie. I'm falling in love with you. I am in love with you."

As the words hung between them, Paul realised that was the absolute truth. He did love her. He was completely in love with Stephanie. He'd just never admitted it to himself before. Honestly, he'd never had the guts to because even just looking into those amazing blue eyes he crashed and burned every single time. And that was before he let her into his heart. And now that he had, Stephanie had the ability to completely wreck him. She made him feel things he'd never felt for any woman before and every moment he spent with her only brought him closer to the realisation that she was the one. Stephanie was it for him. She was his one true shot at happiness.

"Don't….don't say that." Stephanie replied.

"Why not?" Paul retorted as both hands reached for her arms lightly gripping them as he remained determined to make her see sense. "Because it's the truth, Steph. Or maybe you don't want to hear the truth. Maybe you'd rather stay pissed off and mad at me because it's easier for you, isn't it? It's easier to walk away from this than take the chance."

"A chance at what exactly?" Stephanie asked as she stared back at him confused.

"This. Us." he told her simply.

But it was anything but simple. At least not for her.

"There is no us, Paul." Stephanie told him as she took a step back from him. His hands fell to his sides as she removed herself from his grasp. "There can't be." she told him. "Not after this. I mean how could I ever trust you after what you did? How could I ever trust that this was real?"

Paul's brown eyes were heavy with his sadness and Stephanie glanced away ignoring the tug at her chest. She didn't want to acknowledge his pain and he certainly didn't deserve her compassion.

"I'm sorry. You lied to me, Paul which makes me think that's all this has been the whole time. Just a lie."

"Of course it's not." he cried as he grabbed her once more, his eyes staring at her so intently they were practically burning a hole through her. His fingers also burned her skin where they lightly gripped her.

"Look I told you. I made the bet before I got to know you, Stephanie. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"But you did." she cried in dismay as she shrugged him off shaking her head, refusing to listen to his excuses. Stephanie knew she couldn't bend. She had to stay strong. She had to protect herself even though she felt practically defenceless. Every wall she had carefully built over the years had been knocked down piece by piece by the man standing in front of her. Paul had opened her up, making her totally vulnerable. And they were walls she had guarded so fiercely too after Rob had broken her heart. Now it was about to get broken all over again and this time she wasn't so sure she would survive the fallout. Because despite what Paul had told her, despite her belief this whole thing was a lie it still didn't stop the ache in her heart. The ache that told her what she felt for Paul was very much real.

"I trusted you, Paul but you let me down." she sniffed as a solitary tear betrayed her determined strength and trickled slowly down her cheek.

"It won't happen again." he promised softly.

But his promise was too little too late as Stephanie lifted her hand to swipe at her wet cheek, her face tilting up to glare at him defiantly. Her anger at him bubbled under the surface and it was an anger she was more than happy to hold on to. God knows it was all she had left. That and her dignity.

"I know it won't because I won't let it." she informed him before she spun on her heel to walk away.

"Steph!" Paul called out gripping her arm to stop her. Her blue eyes narrowed sharply in his direction and her parting shot left Paul feeling like he had been kicked in the gut.

"You know I was actually dumb enough to think we could have been something great. How wrong was I?"

He could only stand there staring after her as Stephanie turned her back on him one last time, his brown eyes following her wistfully as she disappeared into the night.


End file.
